GNT Group founders lose London arbitration case to ACP investors
GNT Group founders lost London arbitration to American investors ACP (photo: freepik.com)
The American hedge fund Argentem Creek Partners won a London arbitration case against the founders of GNT Group, Sergiy Groza and Volodymyr Naumenko, who are associated with the Olimpex grain terminal in the Port of Odesa, according to Madison Pacific Trust.
Within the framework of the London arbitration, the judges issued a ruling and ordered the shareholders of GN Terminal, Groza and Naumenko, to pay approximately $150 million in principal debt and interest to Argentem Creek Partners (ACP). These funds were initially lent by American investors back in 2019.
"We view this payment decision as a clear marker that GNT’s actions have been deemed unlawful, and we will continue to make all necessary efforts to establish proper control over the Odesa grain terminal," said John Patton, a partner at Argentem Creek Partners in London.
The judges of the London arbitration awarded the payment on January 6, after which a motion was filed last week to recognize the decision in the Southern District of New York.
In recent years, ACP and another creditor of GNT, Innovatus Capital Partners, have joined forces in legal proceedings across multiple countries to protect their rights, which Naumenko and Groza violated.
Madison Pacific notes that during the legal proceedings and debt restructuring negotiations in 2022, the disappearance of grain, which served as collateral for the loan, was discovered. Additionally, it was revealed that Groza and Naumenko had transferred control of companies with assets in the Port of Odesa to third-party companies at negligible prices. These facts were confirmed after a Ukrainian court appointed an arbitration trustee last year to conduct an inventory of the assets.
In October of last year, the High Court of London issued a verdict against Serhiy Groza and Volodymyr Naumenko — they were sentenced to 20 months in prison. This was the result of a legal case with American investors over the non-repayment of loan funds, the disappearance of grain used as collateral, and the embezzlement of assets. In January, the Bureau of Economic Security exposed companies still controlled by Groza and Naumenko for their involvement in the smuggling of "black" grain through the "Olimpex" terminal.
