Oleg Bakhmatyuk told Debtwire he believes the revival of an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of a UAH 1.2bn (USD 49.6m) stabilisation loan received by VAB Bank – a bank he previously owned that was liquidated in 2015 – is “purely politically motivated”.

The Kingdom  of Bahrain enacted a new bankruptcy law in December 2018, sweeping away its previous legislation and replacing it with a thoroughly modern toolkit. The law is a revolutionary improvement compared to what existed before, said lawyers polled by Debtwire.

When the Tower of Lethendy, a baronial-style eight-bedroom castle near Perth, Scotland, went on the market in 2015 for more than GBP 2.5m, pop icon Taylor Swift was among those rumoured to be an interested buyer.

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) enacted its new Insolvency Law on 30 May, introducing internationally utilised insolvency and restructuring tools to offshore DIFC jurisdiction.

Vostochny Bank’s (Orient Express Bank) partial sale of its retail loan portfolio might not raise sufficient funds to comply with the central bank regulations and shareholder support is likely to be necessary to bolster its capital, agreed five sources polled by Debtwire. The Russia-based private bank needs to boost its capital levels by end-August to avoid a mandatory conversion of subordinated debt into equity or its principal write-down.

With few signs that a financial fix for Turkey’s debt-laden energy sector – proposed by the government earlier this year – is any closer to materialising, concern is mounting that not enough is being done to achieve an urgently needed operational turnaround in the industry, several market participants told Debtwire.