Lee Louda, the insolvency manager overseeing the OKD bankruptcy, is suing the former owners of the company, Czech millionaires Zdeněk Bakala and Peter Kadas and their company New World Resources (NWR). Louda is demanding Bakala and Kadas return CZK 12bn in dividends they tapped in 2011 and 2012. NWR, the only shareholder of OKD between 2006 and 2014, greenlighted dividend payments totaling CZK 65bn during that period despite the fact that the company only reported a profit of CZK 33.5bn.
Louda is also suing Asental Land, which owns former OKD properties and is controlled by Bakala. OKD exchanged land with Asental in 2014, and Louda argues the company should pay OKD CZK 19m because the value of the land was not equal. He also points to the fact that OKD was facing bankruptcy at that time and both companies were owned by Bakala. OKD has been in bankruptcy proceedings since May 2016, with 550 creditors raising claims worth more than 24bn. The company operates loss-making coal mines in the Ostrava region and has a large property portfolio.
