20 Jun 2018 14:42

All Vladivostok Commercial Seaport accounts frozen as part of Magomedov brothers' case, business paralyzed - lawyer in court

MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) - All bank accounts of the Vladivostok Commercial Seaport have been frozen as part of the criminal proceeding against Summa Group owner Ziyavudin Magomedov and his brother Magomed charged with an embezzlement conspiracy, the company's lawyer said in court.

"The freeze imposed on all bank accounts of such a company as the Vladivostok Commercial Seaport practically paralyzes its economic activity," the lawyer told the Moscow City Court, which was hearing the appeal against the freeze put on the port accounts on Wednesday.

The conservative attachment "makes it impossible to pay salaries, social benefits, and allowances [...] and to fulfill the duty of a major taxpayer of the Primorye Territory; it also prevents settlements on loan agreements with public and private credit institutions and the fulfillment of obligations to counterparties, including the Defense Ministry and other public entities," he said.

"The detectives who requested such measure disregarded all of those circumstances," the lawyer said.

Another lawyer of the company told the court that "the entire business and operational activity of the company were paralyzed."

According to materials in the proceeding, accounts have been frozen in more than ten banks, including Sberbank, the Bank of China, and Gazprombank, mostly in the Russian Far East.

The lawyers called the company strategic and said it was a natural monopoly entity and the biggest employer in Vladivostok. The situation may cause social unrest, they said.

The Vladivostok Commercial Seaport is a member of Fesco Group, whose biggest shareholder Summa Group is.

According to materials in the proceeding, "the criminal group led by Magomedov used the Vladivostok Commercial Seaport as a source financing its activity," one of the lawyers said.