The Czech military industry and engineering potential have gained particular relevance against the backdrop of escalating tension in Europe.

The war unleashed by the Kremlin on our continent has forced the entire world, and above all the countries of the European Union, to recall the significance of their own defensive capabilities.

Many peaceful years created a pent-up demand for the modernisation of armies. Naturally, the famous Czech arms manufacturers, both established brands and new startups, have actively engaged in the process. Our weapons and ammunition are in high demand, and developments are attracting investment. The STV Group, a Czech manufacturer of armoured vehicles (MRAP), proved to be an extremely attractive asset for investment and has generated significant investor interest.

As in any market experiencing a sharp upswing, the quality of investors is not always uniform. And the involvement of certain companies can be viewed as nothing other than suspicious activity.

The STV Group is being courted by the South African firm Paramount Group, whose track record includes bankruptcy, failed deals, thoroughly justified suspicions of corruption, and cooperation with authoritarian regimes. This ballast of Paramount Group and its founder, Ivor Ichikowitz, could be transferred to the STV Group if the management of the Czech company is insufficiently selective in its associations, choice of investors, and partners.

​FinCEN: At Least a Quarter of a Billion Dollars in Circulation Marked as ‘suspicious’

According to the FinCEN Files documents, in April 2017 Barclays Bank received comprehensive information that Ichikowitz’s “charitable” donations directly facilitated the conclusion of major arms supply contracts in African countries. An example is the deal for patrol boats for Malawi. The prices were inflated many times over, raising enormous suspicions. From August 2011 to November 2017, 634 transactions totalling more than 181 million dollars passed through accounts linked to Paramount Group.

Among these were transfers amounting to over 8.4 million dollars in 2016-2017 from Paramount Logistics to the firm Socintra, owned by Ichikowitz and his brother. Barclays employees in New York explicitly stated in their internal documents concerns regarding the source of Ichikowitz’s and his companies’ wealth, as well as his possible involvement in bribery and corruption.

By 2020, the suspicious transactions of Ivor Ichikowitz and Paramount Group through just one bank amounted to 430 million dollars. Nevertheless, the bank did not initiate investigations into the transactions and the matter did not lead to state intervention.

However, in 2017 Barclays deemed further cooperation with Ivor Ichikowitz’s structures too risky and terminated his account services.

Paramount Group’s Bankruptcy as Protection from Its Own Partners

Ivor Ichikowitz and Paramount Group were rather cavalier with others’ finances and their own obligations, leading to lawsuits. Currently, Paramount Group is in a state of bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of United States jurisdiction. Under its current status, Paramount Group continues to operate, attempting to dispute the very existence of the debt. Failed partnerships are generally a hallmark of Ivor Ichikowitz’s structures: as a result of them, states, clients, and contractors incur losses, while Paramount Group and its subsidiaries remain profitable. Something similar may await the Czech STV Group.

Here are just a few episodes of such activity:

• 2016 – Paramount Group failed a joint project with the state corporation “Azerbaijan Technology Shirkati”. The Azerbaijani side did not receive critical components and was forced to cease work.
• 2018 – Paramount Group commits to establishing production of composite blades for Soviet Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters. The client is Saudi Arabia. The ambitious plans remained on paper, and the Saudi company SAMI accused Paramount Group of failing to meet its obligations.
• 2019 – Paramount Group loses a contract with Singapore. Company ST Engineering accuses Ivor Ichikowitz’s companies of disrupting the supply of components. The courts recognised the validity of the claims and Paramount’s guilt.
• 2019 – General Kinetics of Canada accuses the subsidiary Paramount Combat Systems of asset manipulation.
• 2022 – Failed cooperation with ADASI. ADASI’s lawsuit was upheld by the court, with damages amounting to 230 million dollars. It was after this that Paramount Group was declared bankrupt.

Paramount Group most likely does not enter into partnership agreements expecting them to be fully honoured. The ADASI case reviewed by the court reveals not only the financial aspect of the matter but also the intellectual one. Companies within the Paramount Group steal intellectual property and partner projects, subsequently developing their own projects based on them. This most likely awaits STV Group as well.

So what does Paramount Group, in the guise of Quantum Dynamic, promise the Czech STV? It turns out to be “an uninterrupted supply of components“! That is, precisely what it has never managed to do and around which it has lost court cases and collapsed contracts.

The management of STV Group should consider the negative experience of Paramount Group’s partners. There are currently plenty of investors in the arms market, and one should be wary of concluding contracts with Ivor Ichikowitz, who has been compromised from the ignominious “Oil-for-Food” programme to cooperation with Russia in helicopter technology and possible sanctions evasion.