London court seizes Firtash's mansions as part of Russian VTB Bank lawsuit
The London court ordered to seize two of the businessman Dmytro Firtash mansions, reports the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Interim measures on this and other property, estimated at more than £ 50 million, were imposed at the request of the Russian VTB Bank, to which Firtash has not returned 2.5 billion rubles worth of loans.
The court also ordered the defendant to disclose all of his assets.
According to sources, representatives of VTB Bank filed the lawsuit in the High Court of England and Wales on February 26 in support of the District Court of the Cypriot city of Limassol decision. The latter had already taken interim measures in regards to Firtash’s assets and property.
The VTB representatives’ statement was found to be justified, and London’s court arrested billionaires property registered in the United Kingdom. Interim measures were applied to two of his "elite real estate" properties in central London. One of them is a five-story mansion with a total area of more than 1.5 thousand square meters, located in the prestigious Knightsbridge area near Hyde Park.
The press service of VTB Bank confirmed information about the Firtash's property arrest. "We welcome the decision of the High Court of England and Wales to arrest the property of Dmytro Firtash," said the Russian bank, noting that VTB "will seek to use all possible means within the law."
Recall that in November 2015, it became known that the Ukrainian businessman Firtash turned out to be the owner of the former London Underground station “Brompton Road”, for which he paid 53 million pounds sterling, as well as a nearby located house.