Such measures were applied to the oligarch by the Russian bank VTB because Firtash’s companies owed 2.5 billion rubles to him.
London court arrested two mansions belonging to oligarch Dmytro Firtash and his other property in the amount of 50 million pounds. Security measures were imposed at the request of the Russian VTB Bank. Firtash companies owed VTB bank 2.5 billion rubles.
As the newspaper notes, the two mansions arrested by the Court are elite houses in the center of the British capital. The first is a five-story mansion with a total area of more than 1.5 thousand square meters. It is located in the prestigious Knightsbridge area near Hyde Park.
The second arrested mansion is a historical building and even larger. Its estimated area is about 2.6 thousand square meters. According to British media, it was previously part of the former London Underground station “Brompton Road”, which was opened on December 15, 1906. However, it turned out to be too close to the neighboring Knightsbridge and South Kensington stations. The authorities found it inappropriate to maintain it and in July 1934 it was closed.
In addition to the mansions, the Court seized Firtash’s shares in the film company Via Film Ltd. Their value in accordance with the financial statements is about 2 million pounds.
In addition, the London Court ordered the oligarch to disclose all of its assets that can be recovered. If Firtash refuses to do this, he will face a charge of contempt and offense to justice. The sentence for such an offense is several years in prison.
According to “Ъ” (Kommersant publishing house) sources, representatives of VTB bank filed a lawsuit in the High Court of England and Wales on February 26 in support of the decision of the District Court of the Cypriot city of Limassol.
The latter has already taken interim measures in relation to the assets and property of Dmitro Firtash. The statement of the representatives of VTB was recognized as justified. According to it, the Court seized the property of the oligarch registered in the UK.