Laiki depositors claim buyer was ‘paid’ to buy Ukrainian bank

The buyer of Laiki bank’s subsidiary in Ukraine was “gifted” the bank along with a €1.5m to top it off, former Laiki depositors (Sykala) alleged on Monday.

In a statement, they called on the Central Bank (CBC) to refute the allegations surrounding the sale of the subsidiary.

The depositors said that the CBC, as a resolution authority had announced the sale of the subsidiary in Ukraine for €2.5 million.

Citing inside information, however, Sykala claimed that the subsidiary is waiting on an €8m payment from an insurance company as a result of an abuse of power case by employees at the subsidiary. The cost of this is allegedly covered by the insurance contract.

Sykala went on say that the sale contract of the subsidiary contains a clause offering 50 per cent of the amount paid by the insurance company, to the buyer.

“When the insurance company proceeds to pay this off, the buyer will have taken the Ukrainian bank without having paid anything. He’ll pay €2.5m but receive €4m. Essentially, we’ll pay them €1.5m to gift them the bank.”

“We call on the resolution authority to publically refute this information making the sale contract public,” Sykala said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.