A HITHERTO unheard of Ukrainian man has emerged as claiming an interest in a $180 million (€137 million) commercial tower in Moscow that the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation is trying to seize from the Quinn family.
Little is known by the now state-owned bank about Yaroslav Gurnyak, whom the bank now understands is claiming ownership of Russian companies that are complicating the bank’s efforts to seize the tower.
The property produced rent of $19.2 million in 2010. The bank has also been unable to get control of the rental income.
Last year a Belize company called Galfis Overseas Ltd successfully claimed in a Russian court that it was owed more than $100 million from the company called Finansstroy through which the Quinn family owned the building known as the Kutuzoff Tower.
IBRC recently had a receiver appointed to Galfis by the Belize courts. The bank believed it had thereby prevented the Belize company being used to prevent it seizing the valuable Moscow building.
However now three hitherto unheard of Russian companies are understood to be claiming that they are the ultimate owners of the $100 million allegedly owed by Finansstroy.
A hearing is scheduled for early March in Moscow to decide whether the Russian companies’ claim should be recognised.
The development is indicative of the seemingly unending series of complications that are preventing IBRC seizing properties believed to be worth up to €500 million and located in Russia, the Ukraine and elsewhere.
The bank says it has mortgages and charges on the properties and the network of companies through which they are owned. The properties were used as collateral against loans for hundreds of millions of euro given to the Quinn family by Anglo Irish Bank, which now forms part of IBRC.
Finnansstroy had obligations to a Quinn family company based in Co Fermanagh, Demesne Investments Ltd, which were assigned to Galfis last year, a court in Belfast was told by IBRC in January.
The bank is now seeking to take a case against Demesne, saying it assigned assets to other parties to the detriment of its creditors.
