How ŠKODA Auto partner Oleh Boyaryn robbed banks

At the same time, the owner of Atoll Holding continues to talk about the poor investment climate in Ukraine

In 2015, the owner of the Atoll Holding group of companies and the Eurocar car assembly plant included in it, Oleh Boyaryn, did not make it into the Forbes millionaires rating. However, he significantly tarnished his business reputation by trying to avoid paying about 200 million hryvnias in loans to Ukrainian banks, not wanting to pay either directly or under surety agreements. Which, however, does not prevent the businessman from giving interviews criticizing the government for the lack of reforms and the poor investment climate.

In special friendship with ŠKODA Auto. s.

When 14 years ago, on December 19, 2001, in the village of Solomonove, Uzhgorod district, Zakarpattia region, the management of the ŠKODA Autoa. s. concern, together with the governor, opened a new enterprise for assembling ŠKODA cars for the Ukrainian market, hardly anyone could have imagined what a stain this could leave on the reputation of a company with a worldwide reputation. At that time, the plans seemed rosy: the plant’s potential for up to 100 thousand cars per year, an unsaturated developing market, an enthusiastic partner. But the Czechs did not calculate that sooner or later the bourgeois mentality of the future head of Atoll Holding, Oleh Boyaryn, would break through to the surface and the seemingly reliable counterparty would turn out to be an ordinary swindler.

"With our actions we give the state optimism, we want to show that it is possible to work and achieve success even in difficult conditions," - these words of the member of the supervisory board of "Eurocar" Volodymyr Panov, said in 2014 at the ceremony of launching the production of one of the new SkodaOctavia cars, are today perceived as a mockery by the former partners of the holding. In fact, back in 2013, Oleh Boyaryn chose a completely different path, adopting the principle of Igor Kolomoisky, which later became a winged principle: "only cowards repay debts."

A subsidiary of Atoll Holding, EuroLeasing LLC, was engaged in leasing operations. In this case, loans were taken out to purchase cars, and then all leasing payments were to be transferred to the bank account as repayment of such loans. However, such payments were never received.

Millions of discord

Even before the revolutionary events and military actions in the east of Ukraine and in Crimea, in the fall of 2013, the founder of Atoll Holding decided to carry out a large-scale operation to avoid paying bank loans of the company EuroLeasing, which he controlled. At that time, the company owed about 200 million UAH to a number of Ukrainian banks with Western capital. Among the key creditors were UkrSibbank, UkrSocBank (UniCredit Bank Ukraine), PUMB, Raiffeisenbank Aval. But at one fine moment, the central office of EuroLeasing suddenly moved from Kyiv to Khmelnytskyi. And some time later, at the request of a related company, OOO Avtotsentr Kyiv, controlled by Oleh Boyaryn, a bankruptcy case was opened: EuroLeasing allegedly owed Avtotsentr about 470 thousand UAH.

The very fact that a company with a turnover of millions (and another would not have been given 200 million UAH in loans) went into bankruptcy proceedings on a claim for half a million makes one think about the fictitiousness of the entire process. Initiated, not least of all, to fool real creditors. At the same time, despite the bankruptcy, EuroLeasing continues to actively work. For example, judging by the reviews on specialized sites and forums, one of the company’s main sources of income is the sale of equipment with an inflated commission at a price set in the ad that is significantly lower than the market price.

But the very fact of entering the bankruptcy procedure is not illegal (despite the visible signs of fiction). If the process had been conducted according to all the rules, then as a result at least some of the creditors would have been able to satisfy their demands, for example, by selling property, including that pledged for the loan. However, imagine the surprise of the bank representatives when, having come to the warehouse one morning with a bailiff, they did not find there a single one of the more than 500 cars that were pledged for loans. All these cars were leased since 2007-2008 and have no physical value. However, the very fact that EuroLeasing sold (!), having previously deregistered about 370 cars without the bank’s consent (the remaining 130 are registered with the MREO on paper, but in fact they are not in the responsible storage warehouses), is a blatant case of theft and fraud. After all, if the cars were deregistered, then someone forged the documents, in particular, the bank’s consent. Which, of course, no one gave. And this is already a criminal offense.

The leasing obligations, the rights to claim for which were also pledged to the bank, will also be of no use to the bankers: according to the entrepreneurs, they have long since paid off all their debts to EuroLeasing. The only "liquid" collateral left is the surety of Atoll Holding.

But the owner of Eurocar ignores the fulfillment of his obligations. He decided to deceive the court by presenting false information about the alleged termination of the surety agreement. In reality, according to the document, it is valid until the parties fulfill their obligations. That is, until Atoll Holding pays off all the debts of the bankrupt Euro Leasing. At the same time, Oleh Boyaryn’s cunning lawyers decided to hold a hearing in the Kyiv Commercial Court and present everything as if the surety expired 6 months after the borrower filed for bankruptcy. It took the judges about a year, three levels of court, and an order from the Supreme Commercial Court of Ukraine to sort out the intricacies of the contractual relations of the parties. However, when the Supreme Commercial Court of Ukraine returned the case for reconsideration to the first instance, the Kyiv Commercial Court found a way out: by the decision of November 12, 2014, in case No. 910/21245/13, Atoll Holding is obliged to pay UkrSocBank 17.9 million UAH, 3.4 million USD and 166 thousand EUR. In March 2015, this decision was confirmed by the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal, and in June the case is being considered again by the Supreme Commercial Court of the country.

Svyatash-2?

However, Oleh Boyaryn is in no hurry to comply with the court’s decision. Moreover, he specially gathered the heads of creditor banks in the conference hall of one of the capital’s five-star hotels to personally tell them how indifferent he is to their requests. According to rumors, the verb "to twist" was used in the conversation.

The situation is very reminiscent of another well-known litigation between "automobile manufacturers" and bankers - the conflict between the AIS group of companies of Dmytro Svyatash and Vasyl Polyakov and Ukrsibbank. However, unlike the situation with Euroleasing and Atoll Holding, Svyatash and Polyakov at least did not take the story out of the realm of legal casuistry, pretending that it was a case of a corporate raid. At the same time, Oleh Boyaryn not only does not respond to the demands of creditors, but also cynically pretends to be an honest and European businessman.

In this context, his criticism of the government, which Boyaryn blames for the stalling of reforms, calls for lowering taxes and personally accuses the prime minister of incompetence and mediocrity, looks quite funny. Boyaryn says that he wants to create conditions for the car market in Ukraine that are at least comparable to the Slovak ones. And this is despite the fact that, unlike imported cars, Skoda is not subject to import duties, which makes it cheaper and more accessible - a clear preference spelled out in legislation, where could more concessions be? I just want to ask: what have you done for Ukraine? You have disgraced the whole country with petty fraud.

In fact, the management of ŠKODA Autoa. s. should think deeply about the advisability of extending further cooperation with Atoll Holding, Oleh Boyaryn and Eurocar, whose activities cast a shadow not only on the Czech concern, but also on the parent Volkswagen Group. Which can now be called in Europe nothing less than "a company whose partner in Ukraine steals millions from bankers and their investors." Not a very flattering name. Especially in a country that is laying claim to new investments from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Obviously, in such circumstances, such investments will not be seen in Ukraine.

Author: Ihor Stepashyn

kraina.name