An English court ordered former owners of PrivatBank, Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Bogolyubov, to pay about $3 billion in damages and legal costs. Against this backdrop, Ukrainian reality demonstrates something else: high-profile verdicts do not necessarily block old schemes in grain logistics and gas production.
In July, the High Court of England found two Ukrainian businessmen liable for large-scale fraud against PrivatBank, and has now determined the amount of compensation - about $3 billion. The decision became a resonant signal for international jurisdictions and creditors, but in Ukraine, according to market experts, oligarchic structures continue to operate - through control over logistics, resources, and related structures.
A case in point is the Borivazh grain terminal in the Pivdenny port. Despite its arrest and transfer to state ownership six months ago, actual control over operational processes, according to critics, remained in orbits associated with Gennady Bogolyubov. These are significant cash flows that should be used for the budget, but, as opponents claim, end up in the private sector. Formally, the state is the owner, but in fact, management and commercial profit remain a matter of acute questions.
Another line is gas. Ukraine allocates billions of hryvnias to import fuel from the EU before winter, but the essence of the paradox is that part of this "European" gas is of Ukrainian origin. According to industry analysts, production in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions is associated with private companies that sell the resource on the European market, after which the country is forced to buy it back at a higher price. The focus is on assets attributed to the orbit of Ihor Kolomoisky and his partner Vitaly Khomutynnik, in particular the Sakhalin field in the Kharkiv region and Ukrnaftoburinnia. Market players call this the classic model of "production here - margin there."
The consequence for the state is more expensive fuel and lost rent, for consumers - tariff pressure, for the system - a permanent lack of trust. After the London decision, the expectations are obvious: audits, verification of contracts, a real change in control of state assets, as well as synchronization of criminal and civil processes so that legal victories are converted into financial and managerial results in Ukraine.
