Baring Vostok, Finvision in amicable deal on Orient Express Bank
MOSCOW, Oct 28 (PRIME) -- Cyprus-based Evison Holdings Limited, controlled by investment fund Baring Vostok, and Finvision of Russian businessman Artyom Avetisyan have reached an amicable deal to settle all disputes around Orient Express Bank, they said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“In the interests of Orient Express Bank and its clients, depositors, and creditors, Finvision Holdings and Evison Holdings Limited have signed an amicable agreement. The amicable agreement supposes recalls of all suits from Russian, foreign, and arbitration courts. The process may take up to two months,” the statement read.
The agreement covers all legal disputes and claims of shareholders, but does not cover the criminal case launched against the former members of the board of directors of Orient Express Bank, the two companies said.
In May 2019, the Arbitration Court of the Amur Region ordered Evison Holdings Limited to fulfill a 2016 call option and to sell a 9.99% stake in Orient Express Bank to Avetisyan’s Finvision Holdings. In June, Baring Vostok gave the stake to Finvision but appealed against the court decision.
The Sixth Arbitration Court of Appeal, the Arbitration Court of the Far East District, and the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the lower court.
But Evison discovered that the call option’s conditions say that it can be fulfilled only if a debt of the First Collection Bureau to the bank is settled, while the bank has been challenging the debt settlement since February 2019. It filed a new suit against the call option. Nevertheless, the Arbitration Court of the Amur Region turned down the suit, and the Sixth Arbitration Court of Appeal upheld the decision.
End %%md/jst%%