The Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court has confirmed that it is impossible to return state-owned PrivatBank to its former owners and upheld the legality of the closure proceedings in Case No. 910/1834/19, filed by former shareholder Ihor Kolomoiskyi and the Cyprus-based company Triantal Investments LTD. This ruling protects the interests of the State as an investor, which, through recapitalization, prevented the collapse of the financial system. The case underwent nearly five years of judicial review across various court instances.

In this matter, the plaintiffs—Ihor Kolomoiskyi, who owned 41.6572% of PrivatBank’s shares before nationalization, and Triantal, a Cyprus-registered company linked to the former owners and holding 16.8176% of the bank’s shares—sought to challenge the agreement under which the bank’s shares were acquired by the State and to regain ownership of the shares.

“PrivatBank welcomes this fair and just court decision. It serves as evidence that the rule of law prevails in our country and that independent judges operate within the framework of current legislation and democratic values. The case brought by Kolomoiskyi and Triantal posed significant risks to the state’s financial system due to the demands of our opponents; however, the bank remains state-owned. The case has been closed in accordance with Ukrainian legislation, which precludes the return of bank shares to former owners,” said Solvita Deglava, a Member of the Management Board - Chief Restructuring and Recovery Officer at PrivatBank.

To recap, on September 10, 2024, the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance court’s decision to close the case under the provisions of Law No. 590-IX, “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine to Improve the Mechanisms for Regulating Banking Activities.”