Tycoon Bakhmatyuk calls US fund Gramercy 'aggressive' for suing him over alleged $1 billion fraud

Ukrainian agricultural tycoon Oleh Bakhmatyuk calls U.S. investment fund Gramercy "an aggressive lender." His comment comes after the Cyprus court froze $79.4 million of his assets in proceeding started by Gramercy in Cyprus.

Back in December 2021, the U.S. fund also filed a complaint in a U.S. federal court against Bakhmatyuk and U.S. businessman Nicholas Piazza for allegedly siphoning $1 billion out of Bakhmatyuk's UkrLandFarming. The U.S. fund alleged that Bakhmatyuk secretly took money out of his company to avoid paying its debts.

Bakhmatyuk denies any wrongdoing.

"We're fighting with (Gramercy) in different jurisdictions, trying to come to an agreement despite the war," Bakhmatyuk told Ukrainska Pravda. "All other creditors, thank God, sit and wait, they understand the situation and even try to help in some way.” 

Bakhmatyuk said that Gramercy is UkrLandFarming's “only aggressive lender,” and it currently holds 10% of the company's debt portfolio. Ukraine’s largest egg producer, UkrLandFarming, has a total debt burden of about $1.65 billion.

According to Bloomberg Law, on Sept. 26, he asked a federal appeals court to end racketeering litigation against him and launched an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

On Sept. 19, the District Court of Nicosia in Cyprus granted a worldwide freezing order against Bakhmatyuk for $79.4 million, according to a document obtained by the Kyiv Independent.