Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who is under investigation, lost a court case to return Ukrainian citizenship. According to Glavcom with reference to the data of the court register, the Supreme Court left the Presidential Decree Vladimir Zelensky on the loss of Kolomoisky citizenship.
The plaintiff tried to challenge the Presidential Decree of July 18, 2022, emphasizing that since Ukraine gained independence, he permanently lived in its territory, and that the Constitution prohibits the deprivation of a citizen of a Ukrainian passport without his will. However, Kolomoisky himself acknowledged that in 1995 he voluntarily acquired Israel's citizenship, which became one of the main grounds for the loss of Ukrainian citizenship.
The businessman argued that the Constitution of Ukraine was approved in 1996, after the acquisition of an Israeli passport. In addition, he pointed to the principle of a single citizenship without a direct ban on dual citizenship. However, the court acknowledged that since the entry into force of the Law on Citizenship in 2001, Kolomoisky has not taken any measures to terminate the citizenship of Israel, which violated legislative requirements.
In addition, the court noted that in 1998, during the replacement of the Ukrainian passport, Kolomoisky deliberately concealed the presence of foreign citizenship, indicating that he was exclusively a citizen of Ukraine.
The decision states: "The plaintiff had the opportunity to avoid the loss of citizenship for 25 years, but deliberately remained a citizen of another state." The court also did not take into account the decision of the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kiev, which previously identified Kolomoisky as a citizen of Ukraine, because it does not change the actual circumstances of the case.
Thus, the Supreme Court declared legitimate actions of the President and authorities, which issued the termination of citizenship of Igor Kolomoisky on the basis of confirmed information from Israel.
We will remind, Kolomoisky also got rid of Cyprus citizenship in November 2024 in the framework of purification of the Gold Passport Program. Since September 2023, the oligarch has been in the SBU pre -trial detention center on prosecution with frauds with PrivatBank funds and money laundering through foreign accounts.
