Monday, November 18 2019 19:58

ArmInfo. After the Arzni  mineral water plant was transferred to IDBank, all steps related to  this transaction, including the conclusion of an agreement on the  alienation of this real estate to Tarmak, were discussed for several  months with the participation of Gevorg Afandyan.  This was stated at  a press conference on November 18 by the chairman of IDBank's Board  Mher Abrahamyan.

"We have correspondence and a number of other evidence that attests  to his participation in the negotiations, including his consent at  the final stage, as a result of which the property was alienated.   Probably, it will be necessary to publish this correspondence, which  will answer a number of questions'', Abrahamyan said.

At the same time, he emphasized that the evidence submitted to the  court, including the correspondence between Gevorg Afandyan and  Anelik Bank, as a result of which the deal was concluded, were not  taken into account.

When asked by journalists whether the bank has information regarding  the support of Armenia's former president's brother Alexander  Sargsyan to Gevorg Afandyan in the court case against the bank, M.   Abrahamyan noted that he had heard such information, but stressed  with confidence that the "old practices are impossible in the new  Armenia'' .

"I hope the bank will be able to legally resolve the judicial issue  and protect its rights. There is no other way out, justice must  triumph", the banker said.

To recall, in 2010 Gevorg Afandyan received a loan of $ 7 million   from Anelik Bank, which was secured by the property complex of the   Arzni mineral water plant with an area of 14 thousand square meters,   a land plot of 2.8 hectares and other non-significant items.  Unfortunately,  Afandyan by that time was no longer able to pay the  loan and, as a  result, did not fulfill his obligations to the bank.  Under normal conditions, the mortgaged property was to be transferred  to the bank on the balance sheet and after some time it had to be  alienated in order to cover losses. But the agreement contained a  , of which the former management of the bank, and  especially its consultants, certainly were aware. When taking this  loan, which is rather large by our standards, a proposal  was written  in the document, which, in case it comes to the alienation of  collateral, provided for the possibility of a  pre-emptive repurchase  of this property from the bank by the borrower  himself with the  noble purpose of not failing the business and trying  to fulfill  obligations over time.

At that time, the Lebanese Credit Bank S.A.L acted as the owner of  the  bank, and the bank's management accepted this proposal and  concluded  an agreement with G.  Afandyan, under which Anelik Bank  undertook to  provide the mortgagor or the third person indicated by  him with an  exclusive preference for redemption of collateral for a  period of 2  years. The same agreement stipulates that in case of  non-compliance  with the specified pre-emptive right to purchase, the  bank is obliged  to pay a fine five times exceeding (!!!) the cost of  recovery, and the fine  should be sent to the "Central Station",  "Ecoprint" and "Supra" LLCs  owned by the Afandyan family "in order  to repay their current  obligations to the bank.  In August 2016, the  Lebanese management and shareholders in the Virgin Islands created an  offshore company with  the sonorous name Private International  Company (PIC) and later the Armenian "Tarmak" LLC affiliated with it,  to which the property  complex of the "Arzni" mineral water plant was  sold in October of the  same year. Later Afandyan filed a lawsuit  against the bank and requested $ 21 million, stating that he was not  aware of  his son's participation in the offshore transaction and of  his family buying back the property pledged 10 years ago. The court  found the  Afandyan testimony reliable, and considered "Tarmak" LLC a  third  party in the process. And as a result, the lawsuit filed by  B.M.L. ARZNI bankruptcy case manager Hakob Asoyan against the bank  was very quickly satisfied in  March 2018 by the judge of the court  of general jurisdiction of  Kotayk region Tigran Poladyan. The bank  successfully appealed the  decision of the trial court to the Court  of Appeal, which sent the  case for further investigation. However,  the court of general  jurisdiction of Yerevan, chaired by Judge  Gayane Mazmanyan, on  September 20, 2019 partially satisfied the  claim of B.M.L.  ARZNI to  recover from the bank an amount equivalent  to approximately $ 22  million as a fine under the agreement.