Kiev liquidates tycoon Firtash’s Nadra Bank and nationalizing his companies

A new way of oligarchic war broke out between the authorities and tycoon Dmytro Firtash in Ukraine after the National Banks of Ukraine adopted a decision to liquidate  Nadra Bank, one of the country’s biggest banks, part of Dmytro Firtash's Group DF corporation.

“The National Bank of Ukraine adopted a decision on June 4 2015 to revoke the banking license and liquidate the insolvent Nadra PJSC Commercial Bank,” the financial regulator said on June 5.

In addition, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the companies of the Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash will be nationalized, unless they repay the debts for the gas consumed from Naftogaz Ukraine. The prime minister charged the Ministry for Energy and Coal Industry “to take immediate measures to charge the debts of the Group’s companies “Rovnoazot”, “Azot”, “Styrol” and others, also through property confiscation.”

Nadra Bank is part of Group DF owned by tycoon Dmytro Firtash, who is on the 4th place in the list of the country’s richest persons with over $3 billion. A significant part of his incomes Firtash received from delivery of the Russian gas to Ukraine and Central Europe.

As EADaily reported earlier, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has opened a criminal case over embezzlement of the state property  for 5.7 billion hryvnias ($256 million) by Naftogaz officials and Ostchem Company, part of Firtash’s Group DF. Yatsenyuk said Ukraine’s Attorney General and the Interior Ministry appealed to the Court “for freezing 500 million cubic meters of gas (for 4.3 billion hryvnias) belonging to Firtash’s Group.”