OREANDA-NEWS. June 30, 2010. Avangard (LSE: AVGR LN) said yesterday it plans to sue VTB Bank (Ukraine) in the London Court of Arbitration for USD 50-100 mln in damages due to claims made by the bank. Avangard also said it would ask the UK’s Financial Services Authority to investigate the bank’s actions concerning the spreading of “untruthful information” about the company. VTB claimed in mid-June that it would seek to delist Avangard’s shares from the London Stock Exchange over practices it was employing to evade loan payments. Avangard later acknowledged disagreements with VTB regarding an existing collateral security agreement in the amount of UAH 39.2 mln (USD 4.9 mln), which is reflected in its consolidated audited financial statements. VTB said it had since October 2009 filed a series of lawsuits in Ukraine to force entities related to Avangard to pay over USD 27 mln in overdue loans. 

Concorde Capital: we expect Avangard’s management to attempt to resolve the conflict less publicly going forward, given Bakhmatyuk’s plans (the majority owner of Avangard) to steer its Ukrlandfarming agricultural company toward IPO later this year, as reported by Interfax in May.