Metalloinvest filed a lawsuit against the National Bank of Georgia due to the blocking of assets
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The Metalloinvest company, a subsidiary of Alisher Usmanov’s USM holding, filed a lawsuit against the Georgian systemic bank Liberty Bank and the National Bank of Georgia due to the blocking of its assets in April 2023. This is reported Sputnik And Business Media.
The interests of Alisher Usmanov are represented by the law firm MKD Law. As the leading lawyer of the company, Sandro Samadbegishvili, explained, the National Bank of Georgia sent a regulatory document on the need to block Metalloinvest’s funds by email, but company representatives never saw it. He points out that the only published regulatory document was adopted by the National Bank in August. The one and a half page order talks about the need for commercial banks to comply with sanctions from the US, EU and UK.
According to the lawyer, in this regard, there were “not enough legal grounds” to block the assets. In addition, he notes, Metalloinvest was subject only to US sanctions, not the EU, and the funds were blocked in euros.
Sputnik cites a statement from Liberty Bank. It states that, according to OFAC’s general license, the funds of Alisher Usmanov’s companies, despite the sanctions against him, were not subject to blocking until they themselves fell under restrictions.
“From April 2023, immediately after sanctions were imposed on the company, the company’s access to assets located in Liberty Bank was immediately limited,” the systemic bank said (statement cited by Sputnik). The credit institution indicates that until April 2023, Metalloinvest also used the services of other European banks.
According to Sputnik, the Georgian opposition accused Liberty Bank of circumventing sanctions when opening accounts for the company of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. At the same time, the bank indicates that it acted in accordance with legal documents, and in case of further “discredit” against it, it promised to sue.
The Georgian court has already accepted Metalloinvest’s claim. As Sandro Samadbegishvili points out, the consideration of the case may last several years. We are talking about several million euros.
Metalloinvest is a subsidiary of the USM holding. In Russia, the company owns the Lebedinsky and Mikhailovsky mining and processing plants, as well as metallurgical enterprises – the Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant and the UralMetCom metal recycling company.
49% of USM belongs to billionaire Alisher Usmanov. He ranks eighth in the ranking of the richest Russian billionaires compiled by Forbes. The publication estimates his fortune at $14.4 billion. Last year, the businessman came under sanctions from the EU, USA and Canada. After that, he tried to challenge the EU sanctions in court. The authorities of Hungary and Uzbekistan asked for the restrictions against him to be lifted.
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