On Wednesday, March 27, the Supreme Court plans to consider the cassation appeals of the Cabinet of Ministers and PrivatBank in case No. 757/7499/17. This case concerns a lawsuit filed by six non-resident companies related to the Surkis family against the state-owned PrivatBank, the Ministry of Finance and the Government, with the demand to collect almost $350 million from PrivatBank.
The bank's press service reports that the hearing of this case was supposed to take place on March 20, but was postponed due to an appeal by a representative of non-resident companies to two of the five judges of the panel. After the new appointment of the case for consideration by two other judges, Vadym Ignatenko and Alla Oliynyk, a new date of the court session was set - March 27. It is worth noting that Alla Oliynyk is currently at the stage of selection to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
However, opponents of the bank once again challenged the newly appointed judges, citing their decisions in favor of PrivatBank in previous cases. The bank's lawyers emphasize that such an appeal is selective, since there are other judges in the panel who made decisions in favor of the bank, but they were not appealed.
This case, known as the Surkis offshore case, has been pending since 2017 and has been before the Supreme Court since 2020. The lawyers of "PrivatBank" emphasize holding a meeting with the participation of all parties in order to prove the groundlessness of the contested decision. However, the court did not grant their requests.
"PrivatBank" continues the fight for justice and the rule of law, stressing that no one in Ukraine is above the law.
We will remind that during the nationalization of "PrivatBank" at the end of 2016, funds placed by non-resident companies related to the bank's former owners were included in the bail-in procedure, since the National Bank of Ukraine recognized the Surkis family as related to "PrivatBank" .
In addition to the court proceedings in Ukraine, non-resident companies related to the Surkis family are also trying to obtain a decision in a court in Cyprus.
Last year, the Central Commercial Court of Appeal canceled the decision to declare Montana-Estate LLC, formerly known as "Privatofis", as bankrupt.
In addition, "PrivatBank" is trying to condemn 245 gas stations used by companies controlled by Igor Kolomoiskyi and his entourage.
