Russian owner of Lviv Bus Plant detained in Argentina
1 February 2024 19:47
Based on the materials of the State Bureau of Investigation, the son of Russian oligarch Igor Churkin, who tried to keep assets in Ukraine at the expense of a state bank, was detained in Argentina. This was reported by 
with reference to the State Bureau of Investigation .
The issue of extradition of the Russian to Ukraine is currently being resolved.
It should be noted that in July 2022, the SBI already filed charges against a Russian citizen and his accomplice for attempting to fraudulently retain the property of a Lviv company.
Lviv Bus Plants took out a substantial loan from a state-owned bank secured by its property. Its owner, a Russian citizen, Igor Churkin, spent the money at his own discretion and refused to repay the loan to the bank. At the same time, he did not want to lose the company’s property, which was pledged as collateral.
“The Russian tycoon developed a strategy to prevent the bank from holding an auction of the pledged property in Ukraine. A director controlled by the oligarch, with the consent of the businessman’s son, filed a deliberately false report to law enforcement agencies about the alleged commission of a criminal offence by the bank’s representatives, accusing them of committing a fictitious gross misdemeanour. This led to the initiation of a criminal investigation and the seizure of collateral,”
– the SBI reported.
The Russian citizen was served a notice of suspicion under Article 383 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (knowingly false report to an investigative body of a crime, combined with a charge of a serious crime). The director of the company, who, at the request of the Russian, reported a false crime, was sentenced to two years in prison (with a probationary period of one year).
Background
LAZ started its operations in 1950 and became one of the largest enterprises in Ukraine. After the collapse of the USSR, it suffered a decline, but there were attempts to recover, especially after the production of buses for Euro 2012. “Lviv Bus Plants was acquired by Igor Churkin. In 2013, the plant’s equipment was transferred to the Dnipro Bus Plant (Kamianske), and the production of trolleybuses and tourist buses remained in Lviv.
