State may face new claims of VEB creditors
15.02.2012, 13:45The so-called creditors of the VEB Fund whose funds were frozen in a Soviet-era bank have become notably more active following the ruling that the government must pay a fine for its failure to fulfil a Supreme Court order.
The state pledged to compensate the certificate holders for the money they once had in the Vneshekonombank, which went bust after it was unable to return the money from Russia.
By some estimations, the state could face as much as 150 million euros in claims.
The Parliament will vote today on a bill that would provide for the certificate holders to be compensated from the liquidation of the funds. Since the fund assets consist almost entirely of doubtful or hopeless claims against the defunct bank, it is highly unlikely that the creditors will get anything.
Executives of two VEB Fund Creditors - Saare Kalur and Pärnu Kalur Holding - have already appealed to the President to intervene with Parliament set to vote on the bill the companies say is a meaningless gesture.
Tiit Sarapuu, CEO of Saare Kalur that lost 150,000 US dollars that were on the company’s accounts in Vneshekonombank, says that the whole affair is a farce.
The men said in their letter to Toomas Hendrik Ilves that the proposed liquidation of the compensation fund in its currently dry state would create a dangerous precedent.
"We are astonished at how the state intends to use force to evade an obligation it took years ago and which a court has also required it to discharge."
Indrek Leppik, a lawyer from Law Firm Glimstedt, who is representing the fund creditors says that the bill is contradicting the Supreme Court ruling from 2011 that ordered the state to find a solution to pay our real compensation to creditors.
“I have never heard that in any other country in Europe, the state is ignoring a court ruling and tries to wriggle out of its obligations by passing legislation,” said Teder.