Photo: Gulliver

The Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv granted the request of the Prosecutor General's Office to transfer MFC Gulliver to the management of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), the owner of the asset intends to appeal the decision in the appellate court.

“We believe that this decision was made not on the basis of the factual circumstances of the case, but because of the likely pressure on the judges ... The management of Gulliver in the legal field will continue to defend its position in the court of appeal,” the press service of Gulliver said on Monday.

As noted in the court's press release, the prosecutor's request concerned exclusively the transfer of property to ARMA for management, and not for sale. In addition, the court ordered ARMA to carry out periodic (at least once a month) inspections of the effectiveness of asset management.

Earlier it was reported that the said petition from the Prosecutor General's Office was filed as part of a criminal investigation by the Bureau of Economic Security about possible tax evasion in the amount of UAH 146 million by the management of the shopping center. The BES issued a corresponding suspicion to the director of the Gulliver shopping center in May 2023.

On April 9, 2024, the Kyiv Court of Appeal granted the prosecutor's request and decided to seize the property of Three O LLC, including the Gulliver shopping and office center in the capital.

Earlier, in the investigation of the Schemes program, it was reported that the company had financial obligations to state banks Oschadbank and Ukreximbank in the amount of UAH 14 billion. It was alleged that the actual owner of the shopping center is the ex-owner of Mykhailivsky Bank, Viktor Polischuk, while at the same time, Viacheslav Ihnatenko is indicated in the state register as the final beneficiary.

The press service of the center noted that Three O is fulfilling its obligations to Oschadbank and Ukreximbank to repay loans: in 2023, UAH 300 million were paid, repayment of UAH 700 million is planned for 2024. The company believes that the removal of Gulliver from the ownership and management of Three O may become a threat to the fulfillment of obligations to banks.

The Gulliver multifunctional complex in the Pechersky district of the capital was opened in 2013, its area is 151,800 square meters.