The London court seized the assets of the owners of the grain terminal in Odessa

Moscow, January 16 – The High Court of England has arrested the assets of GNT Group and Olimpex Coupe International, which owns the Odessa Grain Terminal, for grain fraud, Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reported on Monday.

On January 14, 2023, the High Court of England issued an order to confiscate the assets of Sergey Groza and Vladimir Naumenko, the owners of GNT Group and Olimpex Coupe International, who own the grain terminal in Odessa, thus satisfying the claim from the creditors of GNT Group – investment companies American Innovatus Capital Partners (Innovatus) and Argentem Creek Partners (ACP).

According to the publication, the value of the assets is estimated at about 118 million US dollars. It is reported that as part of the investigation, it was established that the GNT Group had liquidated all the grain that had been pledged to Innovatus without the consent of the creditors.

According to Anna Firmato, managing director of Innovatus, the company asked the High Court of England to freeze the assets in order to “prevent their concealment by Vladimir Naumenko and Sergey Groza.” In turn, John Patton, Senior Regional Director of ACP, said that the court’s decision gives the company the opportunity to start enforcement proceedings, and after the GNT Group transfers control over the assets in the Odessa port to the responsible operators, he does not see significant obstacles in the work of the grain corridor.

“We are ready for further cooperation with the Ukrainian state and investment in Ukraine,” UNIAN quoted him as saying.

The grain agreement, which was signed on July 22 last year by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations, includes the export of Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizers across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The contract expired on November 18, but meant an automatic 120-day extension in the absence of objections from both parties. The deal itself is an integral part of the overall deal, which provides for, among other things, the liberalization of Russian exports of food and fertilizers – Moscow has indicated that this is exactly what has not been met. At the same time, there were assurances from the United Nations that restrictions would be lifted.