Expert findings, Deposit Guarantee Fund reports and NBU completely refute NABU's accusations, - lawyers on the VAB Bank case
During a press conference "New Circumstances of the Pisaruk-Bakhmatyuk Case", the lawyers denied the core NABU's accusations in the resonance case: that the refinancing received by VEB Bank from the NBU was allegedly spent illegally and that the encumbered assets estimate provided by the bank was pitched too low. "The Deposit Guarantee Fund for individuals, report the findings of which are also confirmed by the NBU, indicates that the funds provided as part of the refinancing were used exclusively for the purposes determined when such refinancing was issued".
"We are talking about UAH 1.2 billion refinancing provided by NBU to VEB Bank, which is the basis of the NABU case. The money was paid to investors during the financial crisis of 2014-2015. All the funds were used to pay 80 thousand depositors within 18 days. On average, the bank paid more than UAH 100 million daily. As for the allegations of an allegedly unlawful collateral assessment provided by the bank for refinancing, two official state examinations confirm its compliance. We have at hand the conclusions of the Odessa Ministry of Justice of Ukraine Scientific Research Institute for Forensic Expertise".
"The Kharkov Research Institute of Forensics also confirms that the assets assessment was correct. But there is one more expert examination that no one has seen, made by a private body on the order of NABU, and for some reason NABU makes charges based on it," the lawyers say. They also express surprise at the NABU's statements that the VAB bank, when receiving a stabilization loan, allegedly did not provide a financial stabilization plan, because the information on the program provision is open and available on the NBU website.
Besides, the lawyers believe the NABU is ignoring the fact that Oleg Bakhmatyuk personally has been trying for years to achieve the the liquidated banks" overdraft restructuring and pay the debt of UAH 8 billion through the restructuring mechanism. The latest such negotiations took place in late October this year - Mr. Bakhmatyuk proposed to return UAH 500 million, and then UAH 1 billion annually until the full sum is paid. However, he did not get any answer.
The NABU is charging Oleg Bakhmatyuk with the alleged misuse of the VAB Bank stabilization loan provided by the National Bank. The National Bank has already denied these allegations, proving that the entire refinancing amount, UAH 1.2 billion, was used to pay 80 thousand depositors, as this program suggested. Mr Bakhmatyuk's counsels will challenge his being put on the wanted list in court.
