JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov & 16 Ors
2014
COMMERCIAL COURT
United Kingdom
CORAM
- THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE FLAUX
Areas of Law
- Commercial Law
- Civil Procedure
2014
COMMERCIAL COURT
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The claimant bank sought to shift the costs of compliance with a Norwich Pharmacal disclosure Order from itself to the respondent, Mr. Tyschenko, due to allegations of bad faith and involvement in the main defendant's wrongdoings. The Court found that Mr. Tyschenko gave evasive and dissembling evidence, failed to comply properly with the disclosure order, and was implicated in the wrongdoings. Therefore, the Court varied the costs order, requiring Mr. Tyschenko to pay the claimant's costs of the cross-examination.
Judgment
The Honourable Mr Justice Flaux :
Introduction
The claimant bank applies by Application Notice dated 30 January 2014 to vary the Order made by Eder J on 28 October 2013 that, subject to further Order of the Court, the costs of compliance by the respondent with a Norwich Pharmacal disclosure Order be paid by the claimant, to provide that the respondent should pay those costs himself. At the end of the second day of the hearing of this matter, I indicated that the application would be allowed in substance and that I would give my reasons for that decision at a later date. This judgment sets out those reasons.
The present application is the latest round in the litigation being pursued by JSC BTA Bank (“the bank”) against its former chairman, Mr Ablyazov, in respect of vast sums which the bank contends he stole from it and invested in a maze of corporate structures designed to frustrate the bank’s efforts to trace its monies and to enforce a series of judgments it has obtained in this court against Mr Ablyazov for in excess of US$3.7 billion, none of which has been paid. The bank initially obtained a Worldwide Freezing Order against Mr Ablyazov in August 2009 and on 6 August 2010, a further Order was made appointing receivers over his assets. Each of those Orders has been extended from time to time to cover the myriad of additional companies and assets through which Mr Ablyazov operates.
The respondent to the present application is Mr Tyschenko, a Ukrainian businessman, whose Factor and Fortuna groups of companies have interests in banking, oil and gas, real estate and logistics companies. The bank’s case is that Mr Tyschenko is an associate of Mr Ablyazov and has assisted him in seeking to put assets outside the reach of the bank.
By the Order of 28 October 2013, Mr Tyschenko was ordered to file and serve affidavits setting out “to the best of his ability all Relevant Information [defined as including information as to the ownership and location of certain assets and businesses and all dealings or attempted dealings with them since 12 August 2009, instructions given or received by him in relation to them since that date and communications between his wife and/or himself and Mr Ablyazov in relation to them since that date] within his own knowledge (without being under any obligation to make inquiries) [in relation to certain identified assets and businesses and any other asset with a value exceeding US$5 million]. The Order also obliged him