Former people’s deputy Klymov must pay the National Bank 309 million hryvnia

Former people’s deputy Klymov must pay the National Bank 309 million hryvnia

On 12 June 2024, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, having considered the cassation appeal of the former owner of Imexbank JSC, former MP Leonid Klymov, upheld the decision of the court of appeal to recover UAH 309 million from him in favour of the National Bank to repay the bank’s debt under the previously granted refinancing loan.

The NBU reports this.

“The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, with its decision, finally put an end to the long-term dispute, confirming the legality of the National Bank’s demands and the groundlessness of Leonid Klymov’s allegations about the absence of his obligation as a guarantor to return funds on a refinancing loan. The decision opens up the opportunity to resume the enforcement of the decision of the appellate court to recover funds from Leonid Klymov in favor of the National Bank and use the collected funds to repay Imexbank’s loan debt,” commented Serhiy Boyko, head of the department of legal and judicial work with problem assets of the Legal Department of the National Bank.

In 2014, the National Bank provided Imexbank JSC with a loan to maintain liquidity in the amount of UAH 300 million.

Leonid Klymov, who at that time was the owner of Imexbank JSC, entered into a guarantee agreement with the National Bank, undertaking personal obligations to repay the debt of Imexbank JSC to the National Bank.

Since Leonid Klymov did not fulfill his obligations under the guarantee agreement in good faith, the National Bank in January 2016 went to court to collect the debt through legal proceedings.

On March 16, 2016, the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa fully satisfied the claim of the National Bank against Leonid Klimov for the recovery of UAH 309 million from him in favor of the National Bank, while at the same time, the Court of Appeal of the Odesa Region on July 15, 2016 satisfied the appeal of Leonid Klymov.

On October 4, 2017, the Higher Specialized Court partially upheld the cassation appeal of the National Bank, overturned the decision of the courts of previous instances and sent the case for a new trial to the court of first instance.

During a new consideration of the case, the Primorsky District Court of Odesa on December 14, 2018 rejected the NBU’s claim, while at the same time the Odesa Court of Appeal granted the appeal on November 24, 2020.

The balance of Imexbank JSC’s debt to the National Bank on refinancing loans is UAH 3.004 billion.

On January 26, 2015, the NBU decided to classify Imexbank JSC as insolvent.