Oschadbank’s official statement regarding the operation of the Gulliver COC

The transfer of the Gulliver Commercial and Office Complex (COC) to the ownership of the Consortium of the state Oschadbank and Ukreximbank will not affect the visitors and tenants of this facility in any way. A process is currently under way to transfer management from the previous owner to the joint management team of the state-owned banks.

Under mortgage law, current leases have lapsed, so the Consortium invites tenants to immediately contact the management team for the purpose of concluding the relevant agreements. The Consortium emphasizes that the terms of the agreements will not be changed, except when the terms are frankly non-market in nature.

The Consortium currently does not make a decision on the involvement of external managers and a decision on the sale of the building. A further strategy for dealing with the facility will be carefully developed with a focus on maximum cash flow for the benefit of the state-owned banks. This strategy will be transparent.

Due to the debtor, "Three O", LLC, ceasing to provide debt service in 2024, the mortgage recovery was conducted based on a strategy that was approved by both state-owned banks.

We will remind you that the consortium loan was issued to "Three O" in 2006. The security for the loan was the Gulliver COC with all its equipment and the plot of land on which it was built. The mortgagees of the property were jointly Oschadbank and Ukreximbank in shares of 80/20. The building was commissioned in 2014. As a result of negative phenomena in the country's economy and retail business in particular, the debtor did not have the opportunity to service the loan on the initial terms. Therefore, it was restructured in 2020 in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Financial Restructuring". During the restructuring, the loan was additionally secured by Viktor Polishchuk's personal guarantee, as well as his guarantee, which is subject to the English law. Since the beginning of full-scale aggression by the Russian Federation in 2022, business indicators have deteriorated again. However, according to the forecasted financial flows, the debtor could partially service the debt, and in the future fully repay it (although in a rather long period of time).   

In 2024, the borrower stopped cooperating with the Consortium and stopped paying any payments despite the almost full restoration of the functioning of the Gulliver COC. This circumstance became the basis for the Consortium to start the procedure of enforcement of the debt and imposition of foreclosure on the subject of the mortgage, which was completed on July 26. The consortium operates in strict accordance with the legislation, regulatory acts of the National Bank of Ukraine regarding work with problem assets, as well as taking into account the terms of all concluded security agreements. Sayenko Kharenko, who protect the rights and interests of Oschadbank in the recovery procedure and during the transfer of management to the Consortium, are involved in the settlement of the debt in Ukraine.

In April 2024, the Gulliver COC was arrested in criminal proceedings related to the debtor's tax evasion. The banks are not participants in this criminal proceeding. In June 2024, a decision was made to transfer the Gulliver COC to the management of the ARMA asset search and management agency. The agency has not yet completed the competition for the management of the Gulliver COC.

Under the legislation guaranteeing the rights of creditors, the said seizure did not affect the banks' mortgage right, which had arisen long before that seizure. In the near future, the Consortium plans to go to court to cancel the arrest. After the adoption of the relevant court decision, the competition for the selection of the manager of the Gulliver COC, which is conducted by ARMA, will be terminated (which was confirmed in a recent message by the head of ARMA, Olena Duma).

Foreclosure on the Gulliver COC does not limit further recovery procedures from the debtor and guarantors, as well as guarantors of the remaining debt at the expense of their other property. Since among the security obligations there is a personal guarantee of Viktor Polishchuk, which provides for the resolution of the dispute in the London Court of International Arbitration, Oschadbank involved a foreign legal advisor, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, and initiated a corresponding lawsuit against Viktor Polishchuk and the company Lavish Ventures Limited (which is one of the guarantors of the execution of the loan agreement).

The legal advisors of the banks took into account the fact that sanctions were imposed on Mr. Viktor Polishchuk. 

The purpose of the Consortium is to ensure the management of the facility in such a way that neither tenants nor its visitors feel any changes, as well as the resumption of payments in favor of the state-owned banks. From the profits received, the state banks will ensure the payment of taxes and dividends to the state treasury, which are extremely necessary for the state during the war.

Contacts of the legal advisor of Oschadbank for the application of tenants:

Sayenko Kharenko,

BC “Senator” | 8th floor

St. Kniaziv Ostrozkykh, 32/2 | Kyiv | 01010 | Ukraine

email: info@sk.ua | tel. +38 044 499 6000

Contact person: Zhanna Zaiets