Delta Bank liquidation completes after 9 years of delays

The Collapse of Delta Bank: A Timeline

Delta Bank's decade-long collapse finally ends with full depositor payouts

Delta Bank was once a go-to source for Belarusians seeking quick loans for phones, furniture, and other consumer goods. But in 2014, everything began to unravel, and by 2015, the bank was officially declared bankrupt, as reported by Myfin.by.

Liquidation was expected to wrap up in the second half of 2016, yet the process dragged on until December 2024. Let's retrace the story of this spectacular failure.

How It Began—and How It Worked

In 2007, Ukrainian entrepreneur Mykola Lahun acquired a small Belarusian bank, Atom-Bank, rebranded it as Delta Bank, and launched a business model he had already perfected: instant in-store loans, rapid approvals, and no lengthy checks.

Speed was the key—thanks to automated borrower assessment systems. Today, this is standard practice, but back then, the norm was pay stubs, calls to employers and neighbors, and days of deliberation over whether to approve a loan for a smartphone.

Delta Bank, too, asked a flurry of questions—requesting phone numbers for friends and colleagues. Yet (as practice showed) no one actually made those calls, and loans were approved within half an hour.

By 2014, Delta Bank had become Belarus's leader in consumer lending, primarily due to its vast network of outlets issuing countless small loans for household goods. By today's standards, the interest rates weren't cheap—around 40% annually. But consider the inflation of those years.

How Did the Bank Make Money?

Fast loans are, as a rule, a lucrative but high-risk tool, largely due to high default rates.

Belarus's Delta Bank attracted deposits from the public—at fairly high interest rates.

At one point, the bank aggressively pushed retailers whose products it financed to switch to full-service banking: ensuring that payments for goods purchased on credit, new inventory orders, salaries, and all other transactions were processed through Delta Bank accounts.

This built up the bank's assets. Nor did it emerge from nothing—behind it stood Ukraine's Delta Bank, then the country's fourth-largest, with 4 million clients. In 2014, Forbes estimated Lahun's personal fortune at $133 million.

Why Did the Bank Collapse?

The first widespread explanation was that Ukraine's financial crisis crippled the parent company, and the Belarusian subsidiary followed suit. Yet Belarus's Investigative Committee adds critical details.

According to the Investigative Committee, from 2012 to 2014, the bank's top executives used fiduciary lending schemes through European banks to issue over $12 million in loans to an offshore company. Later, the bank's "capital shortfall" was estimated at $40 million. By the time it was declared bankrupt, Delta Bank's equity capital stood at minus 555 billion non-denominated Belarusian rubles.

On March 18, 2015, the National Bank revoked Delta Bank's license. On May 18, the Supreme Court initiated bankruptcy proceedings. In August, the bank was officially declared insolvent.

What Happened Next?

At the time of its closure, Delta Bank had numerous active borrowers. But their payments were not enough to cover the bank's debts.

Worse still, many borrowers stopped repaying their loans, filing complaints and claiming they had been misled when taking out credit. This significantly delayed the process, as each complaint required investigation, and defaults were only settled through enforcement.

Meanwhile, it emerged that Lagun had other assets in Belarus—companies, stores, and funds—all linked through chains of Cypriot offshore entities. These had to be located and proven eligible for seizure to recover losses.

A Decade Instead of a Year—and Other Consequences

Liquidation was supposed to take one year. It dragged on for nearly ten.

There were annual extensions, dozens of multimillion-dollar lawsuits, and international arbitration. In 2018, the Dutch company Delta Belarus Holdings BV demanded $82.2 million from Belarus in compensation for the license revocation. The case was dismissed in 2022.

On September 30, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a ruling to conclude the liquidation. On December 30 of the same year, the National Bank removed Delta Bank from its registry.

In 2024, Nikolai Lagun was placed on the international wanted list. He has not commented on the end of the Belarusian chapter.

Who Suffered the Most?

We won't attempt to compare all the individual stories. But one group often overlooked is the retail sellers who had arranged loans through Delta Bank. In late 2014, they stopped receiving payments for goods sold. Some continued working with the bank, hoping the situation would improve—right in the middle of the peak shopping season.

As a result, sellers handed over merchandise to customers but never received payment from the bank, leaving them without funds to restock, cover rent, pay wages, or meet other expenses. According to accounts, some payments eventually came through—with significant delays. But many struggled to survive the gaps, and not all made it.

Who Was Protected?

All funds were returned to private individuals. Around 24,000 depositors of Delta Bank received over $100 million (in various currencies). This was possible because deposits are fully and directly protected by law—and because Belarus has an active Deposit Guarantee Agency, which ensures reimbursement for individual bank deposits. That said, even in this case, only the principal amount is refunded, without the expected interest or adjustments for inflation.