“Unprofessionalism or corruption”: expert criticizes ARMA for ignoring the interests of Oschadbank in the competition for the manager of Gulliver

The Asset Recovery and Management Agency should have taken into account the interests of the state-owned Oschadbank before announcing the tender for the selection of a manager for the Gulliver shopping center. The fact that ARMA has only now decided to negotiate with the bank shows the lack of professionalism of the agency’s staff and management. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Dmytro Gromakov, former secretary of the Public Council under ARMA.

Details

On November 13, representatives of the ARMA decided to meet with Arsen Miliutin, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Oschadbank in charge of NPLs, to discuss the management of the seized asset, which affects the interests of the state-owned bank in terms of loan repayment. However, the meeting failed to reach a consensus, and the parties agreed to “continue cooperation.

Dmytro Gromakov emphasized that ARMA should have taken into account all the risks to the state-owned bank at the stage of preparing the tender and spelled them out in the tender conditions for the managers.

“The actions of ARMA and its management in this case are not professional from one point of view, but from another they may have a corruption component, and here is a question to the relevant state authorities who are responsible for this – why ARMA does not take into account the state interests when dealing with such problem assets,” he said.

In his opinion, ARMA, first, could have deliberately omitted the requirements for loan servicing in the tender documents, realizing that no one would want to manage this asset.

“Secondly, according to the law, all earned funds go to the state budget, and this is already becoming a matter of dispute between the state budget and the state institution about who owns the money. Either the state bank that lent this asset or the state,” the expert added.

Context

On October 30, ARMA announced a competition to select a manager for the Gulliver shopping center. The head of the agency, Olena Duma, proudly stated that she had taken the strictest possible approach to the selection of a manager for this high-profile asset and even set the maximum possible 4 criteria for candidates. Among the conditions to be fulfilled by the bidders are property worth at least UAH 100 million, a professional team, proven experience in managing similar facilities, and proven financial solvency.

The building of the Gulliver shopping center is pledged as collateral for a mortgage loan with state-owned banks, including Oschadbank. However, among the criteria set out by the ARMA, there is no mention of the need to repay the loan.

Oshchadbank has repeatedly stated that the decision to transfer Gulliver to ARMA harms the interests of the state-owned bank, as it will deprive it of loan payments from the company that owns the capital’s complex. The losses of Oschadbank due to the termination of loan payments could reach more than UAH 20 billion.

After the announcement of the tender, Arsen Miliutin, deputy chairman of the board of Oschadbank in charge of NPL, said in a commentary to UNN that the state-owned bank plans to recover the building of the capital’s Gulliver shopping center in its favor if ARMA transfers it to management. He expressed indignation that instead of paying the loan to state banks, Gulliver’s earnings would be given to an “incomprehensible manager”.