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In early January, after informing the creditor that he would pursue personal bankruptcy, Vidmantas Kučinskas, the founder of Arvi, filed a statement about the initiation of a personal bankruptcy case with the Marijampolė District Court on April 6.
This time V. Kučinskas 15 minutes declined to comment on the request to the court, arguing that it was “personal matters”.
In the statement a copy of which he received 15 minutes, The amount of V. Kučinskas’ obligations to the creditors is said to be 61 million. 775 thousand euros.
According to the statement, V. Kučinskas has run the Arvi group of companies, which consisted of about 20 companies, since 1992, and millions of euros of personal debts have been incurred by taking loans for business development from creditors and guaranteeing them on his own behalf.
Photo by Irmantas Gelūnas / 15min / Vidmantas Kučinskas
The businessman explains that the increase in competition and tensions in the markets disrupted the financial obligations of the Arvi Group companies, and insolvency proceedings were initiated against the Arvi Group companies due to their lack of coordination with the issues of deferral and mutual settlement with creditors.
“As the Arvi Group companies cannot meet their obligations to creditors, the creditors have referred me as guarantor. Currently, the amount of the obligations with creditors is 61,744 88.39 euros”, states the communicated to the court.
The largest debts were incurred by the Russian bank Alfa Bank: more than 38.6 million. 10 million euros. € 4 million for Sberbank and € 4 million for Belor. euros.
Will live a few hundred a month
The application for the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings against a natural person states that V. Kučinskas receives 1,576.29 euros of income per month and plans to find an additional, better paid job, in the hope of receiving higher income in the future.
V. Kučinskas claims that he has assets of 5.4 million. EUR, of which Vyrja’s most expensive shares were EUR 5.37 million. euros. However, the market is considering that Vyrja, which controls other group companies, may be worthless as most companies go bankrupt.
At the end of December, the Kaunas Regional Court filed bankruptcy proceedings against the principal company of businessman V. Kučinskas group Arvi ir ko, which owes its creditors around LTL 40 million. euros. Other Arvi ir ko subsidiaries are also bankrupt: Arvi turkeys, Arvi fertis, Lietuvos cukrus and Rietavas veterinary health.
Photo by Irmantas Gelūnas / 15min / Vidmantas Kučinskas
The statement of V. Kučinskas on the initiation of personal bankruptcy shows that all other assets are not worth much – the businessman indicated that he owns land in Vilnius, several vehicles – a four-wheeled motorcycle, a jet ski, several motorcycle scooters. water, cars and a couple of guns.
The application indicates that the applicant needs 460 EUR per month to meet basic needs and another 200 EUR to support minor children.
Lawyer: This case is a test of the legal system.
Laurynas Lukošiūnas, lawyer representing V. Kučinskas’ biggest creditor: the Russian bank Alfa Bank in Lithuania 15 minutes It argued that the court would have to assess all the circumstances when examining this application, including whether the insolvency administrator had committed fraudulent acts to transfer the assets, resulting in the insolvency of the applicant.
Several Lithuanian and foreign companies that have been trying to recover the businessman’s debts for several years accuse V. Kučinskas of avoiding paying the debts and trying to hide the assets by rewriting them to closed or offshore companies.
“Creditors are likely to raise the issue, especially with regard to concluded transactions: the courts have established the circumstances in which V. Kučinskas, having transferred all the real estate, because he previously had about 30 real estate objects at his disposal, He tried to transfer the shares. It is difficult to say that he meets this legal requirement of non-fraud. Quite the contrary, “said the lawyer.
According to him, the court will have to assess who is using the property that was previously owned by V. Kučinskas, who was included in the lists of the richest Lithuanians.
Photo from personal album / Laurynas Lukošiūnas
“Who uses that property, whether he lives there or uses property registered in the name of a relative, must be determined by the court. A person will live for 400 euros a month, but the property managed by his family shows that the living space is quite large and the costs and needs are higher, all this will have to be assessed by the court ”, considered the lawyer.
L. Lukošiūnas noted that this case will be a test for the entire legal system and will be a litmus test to determine whether the courts provide opportunities for people who have filed for dishonest bankruptcy to do so.
The man was recently considered one of the richest people in Lithuania, included in the lists of millionaires, and it turned out that he has nothing of value except a rifle and insignificant assets, and that he cannot settle with creditors with debts of 60 millions. . euros.
This situation raises questions about the business system, trust in others and if there is this opportunity to not pay and unjustly cancel the bankruptcy, or if there are mechanisms that protect creditors from such actions, “commented the lawyer.
The man was recently considered one of the richest people in Lithuania, included in the lists of millionaires, and it turned out that he has nothing valuable but a rifle and trivial property.
By the way, V. Kučinskas concluded a prenuptial agreement in 2015, which separates the property of the spouses.
This detail also did not go unnoticed by L. Lukošiūnas: counsel underlines that these agreements are sometimes used in legal practice so as not to direct recovery to the joint property of the spouses.
“We have a whole series of actions: transfer of real estate, then marriage agreements, then attempts to transfer shares, then bankruptcies of legal entities, now natural persons. The entire chain of actions, which will have to be assessed by the court, “summarized the lawyer.
We have a whole sequence of actions: transferred real estate, then marital agreements, then attempts to transfer shares, then bankruptcies of legal entities, now a natural person. The entire chain of action, which will have to be assessed by the court, summarized the lawyer.
He was arrested in Slovenia
By the way, during a summer vacation, V. Kučinskas was arrested in Slovenia at the request of Russia. In Russia, at the initiative of local bank Alfa Bank, a pre-trial investigation was launched against V. Kučinskas regarding possible signs of fraud and suspicions of financial machinations.
Later, it turned out that four years ago a pre-trial investigation was also launched against V. Kučinskas in Lithuania; At the request of a creditor, Belor, the investigation into possible fraud, misuse of foreign property, property damage from fraud and criminal bankruptcy was carried out.
On the basis of this criminal case, a European arrest warrant was issued, which determined that V. Kučinskas, who had been arrested in Slovenia in the summer at the request of Russia, had been transferred to Lithuania instead of Russia after four months. of detention. .
It is true that V. Kučinskas received the first good news before Christmas: the Kaunas Regional Prosecutor’s Office ended this pre-trial investigation. The Attorney General’s Office soon announced that it would review the decision.
Photo by Arvi / Inauguration of the Arvi complex in Belarus
After a person’s physical bankruptcy, the debts would be canceled after three years and the current creditors would no longer be able to claim the entrepreneur’s income. There are only a few exceptions, for example, no cancellation of administrative fines recovered by the tax administrator, damages awarded for violations of the Penal Code and others.
A former construction mogul has also been declared bankrupt
This is not the first case in which an entrepreneur who is on the list of the richest Lithuanian entrepreneurs and is trapped in millions of debts seeks bankruptcy of a natural person.
In late May 2020, the Alytus District Court filed a physical bankruptcy for former construction mogul Laimučius Pinkevičius, who declared that he owed nearly $ 41 million. euros. The court also approved a three-year recovery plan for his solvency, with the businessman, who said he received a salary of € 414 per month, officially living on only € 300 and € 114 for creditors.
15min and photo by Vigantas Ovadnevas / Žmonės.lt / Laimutis Pinkevičius
However 15 minutes The investigation revealed L. Pinkevičius’s connections to luxury real estate projects. L. Pinkevičius, who once implemented the Perkūnkiemis and Vilniaus vartai projects, may have developed many exceptional real estate projects in the capital through related people. One of them is the Oskierkų Palace project on Klaipėdos Street.
Furthermore, even officially living on a few hundred euros a month, L. Pinkičius can still enjoy a luxurious life.
15 minutes Last year, photographers captured L. Pinkevičius at the wheel of a luxury Bentley Continental GTC car, including twice last year in Vilnius near the Cathedral.
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