MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Commercial Court in London has ordered the freezing of assets belonging to brothers Dmitry and Alexei Ananyev held against Russia’s Vozrozhdenie Bank VZRZ. MM and other international assets, said a law firm representing investors.
The order was obtained by London law firm Withers, who filed a freeze order on behalf of investors who said they lost money on their investments when Promsvyazbank, formerly owned by the Ananyev brothers, was nationalized by Russia in 2017.
“The group of investors agreed to exchange deposits of about $11 million (in) at Promsvyazbank for fixed securities which are claimed to be ‘safe investments’ and offer higher rates of return,” Withers said in a statement, adding that the nationalization made the notes worthless.
Dmitry Ananyev and Vozrozhdenie could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
VTB is the second largest lender in Russia VTBR. MM said this week it has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Vozrozhdenie..
VTB said on Friday that it was ready to buy Vozrozhdenie only if the sale is free from legal consequences, the Interfax news agency reported.
Vozrozhdenie, one of Russia’s 40 largest banks by assets, was sold by the Ananyev brothers at the request of the central bank after their main asset, Promsvyazbank, was redeemed.
Reported by Anna Rzhevkina in Gdynia; Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Edited by Adrian Croft
“Entrepreneur. Internet fanatic. Certified zombie scholar. Friendly troublemaker. Bacon expert.”
