On August 12, the Commercial Court of Luhansk Region initiated proceedings in case No. 913/444/18 on the bankruptcy of Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works PJSC.
This court, by its ruling of 19.10.2018, has already opened bankruptcy proceedings against Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works PJSC (at the initiative of Elektropostachzbut LLC on the basis of requirements for UAH 4.8 million). However, the relevant decision was reversed by the decision of the Skhidnyi Commercial Court of Appeal dd. 19.12.2018, left unchanged by the decision of the Supreme Court dd. 09.04.2019, and the case was transferred to the Commercial Court of Luhansk region for consideration of the Elektropostachzbut`s application for opening of bankruptcy proceedings of Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works PJSC in a different composition of the court.
Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works PJSC is a part of Industrial Union of Donbas (ISD), the main controllers of which since 2010 are structures close to the Russian state corporation Vnesheconombank (VEB.RF). ISD minority shareholders include Serhii Taruta and Oleh Mkrtchan (who were detained by Russian security forces in Moscow in February 2018).
According to the Russian media, in 2010 VEB financed the acquisition of ISD for USD 1-2 billion. Shortly before the agreement was signed, the National Wealth Fund (Russia) unexpectedly placed USD 2 billion on an online deposit, which gave grounds for speculation about political support for the deal. The total investment in the Ukrainian metallurgy on the Internet was estimated at USD 8 billion.
As reported earlier, former ISD partners Serhii Taruta, Vitalii Haiduk and Oleh Mkrtchan are suing with each other in London for selling half of ISD`s shares to Russians. The price of the question is more than a billion dollars. In particular, V. Haiduk and his wife believe that the partners did not pay additional USD 1 billion when leaving the business, while Taruta filed cross-suits against Haiduk and Mkrtchan, in which half of the shares in the capital`s five-star hotel Hyatt and Ukrainian Mining and Metallurgical Company are demanded. These assets were jointly owned by the businessmen before the agreement with the Russians.
In December 2017, ISD announced a loss of control over Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works PJSC located in the occupied part of Donbas. According to the media, the iron and steel works is under the control of Serhii Kurchenko`s structures.
In 2013, Serhii Taruta estimated ISD`s debt to Western banks at USD 2.5 billion.
Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works PJSC in its financial statements as of 2015 provided data on long-term debt on bank loans for UAH 51.6 billion and UAH 10.2 billion of short-term debt, as well as UAH 7.2 billion of debt for goods / works / services.
At the same time, claims against the plant in court were also filed by Ukreximbank, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, and Metinvest.