AlixPartners Accuse Corpbank Owner of Taking Money from His Bank

Business » FINANCE | May 4, 2016, Wednesday // 12:33
Bulgaria: AlixPartners Accuse Corpbank Owner of Taking Money from His Bank A file photo of collapsed Corporate Commercial Bank's headquarters in central Sofia. BGNES

Bulgarian businessman Tsvetan Vasilev drained BGN 2.5 B out of his own bank through special purpose vehicles, consultancy firm AlixPartners says in a report made public on Tuesday.

The report had been ordered by officials to track down the assets of Bulgaria's fourth-largest lender after its insolvency was declared in 2014.

Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank or KTB) collapsed in June 2014 following a run on deposits.

The text's Bulgarian-language version of the report is available on the deposit insurance fund's webpage [BG] as of May 04, Monday, following a vote in Parliament allowing the publication through legal amendments.

The report, in its Bulgarian-language version, contains information about a "pyramid" of credit lines to KTB connected to the same mortgage collateral, loans granted to secure the acquisition of shares in other companies that are owned by KTB.

It says clients who were extended a credit line are highly interconnected.

AlixPartners also maintains that loans to a total of 8 entities, which include fuels trader Petrol, Bulgaria's largest telecom Vivacom, and Serbia-based glass factory in Para?in (all owned or controlled by Vasilev as of 2014), were handed out loans of a total value of BGN 1 B (approximately EUR 0.5 B).

No names of clients (natural or legal persons) are explicitly mentioned, the only exception being made with regard of those entities whose loans have not been cleared off.

It also reads that: "KTB apparently grew quickly since 2009. The total sum of the Bank's assets, as seen in the financial reports, was BGN 6.7 B as of December 31, 2013, compared to BGN 2 B as of December 31, 2009, and net assets also grew more than twice."

Vasilev, who is currently in Serbia waiting for a court to rule on an extradition request by the Bulgarian prosecuting authorities, maintains the collapse of KTB was a premeditated attack by a business partner-turned-rival supported by state institutions.

He has not yet commented on the report's revelations as of Wednesday noontime.

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Tags: Tsvetan Vasilev, Corpbank, KTB, Corporate Commercial Bank, Alixpartners, Vivaco, Petrol, Para?in

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