Since the Ukrainian government nationalized PrivatBank, the country’s largest lender, in 2016, the bank’s former co-owner oligarch Igor Kolomoisky has been suing the state in a dogged effort to regain control over his lost assets.
Now, PrivatBank’s other former co-owner, Gennadiy Boholyubov, is also joining the fray. On Oct. 15, he filed four lawsuits against the government of Ukraine in the Kyiv Economic Court.
Unlike Kolomoisky, Boholyubov has traditionally been a low-key figure who largely operated behind the scenes. However, according to Ukraine’s central bank, he is equally guilty of fraud.
According to an international audit by the Kroll corporate investigations unit, the former owners allegedly siphoned off $5.5 billion from the bank through an insider lending scheme. Kolomoisky and Boholyubov deny embezzling the money.
In 2016, the state took over the bank to save it from bankruptcy, something that would have destabilized Ukraine’s economy.
Boholyubov’s entry into the legal battle is just the latest development in the struggle over PrivatBank. According to the state registry of court cases, in one suit, Boholyubov is seeking to overturn the share purchase agreement under which the Ministry of Finance bought the bank for a symbolic Hr 1 ($0.03).
In the other three cases, he is attempting to retake his share of the bank and lost property.
Among the defendants in the cases are PrivatBank; the Cabinet of Ministers, the bank’s current owner; the Ministry of Finance and the State Deposit Guarantee Fund. Boholyubov is also suing state-owned Ukrgazbank and Eximbank and the privately-owned Solid Dnipro company, which has common addresses, phone numbers and directors with other firms in Kolomoisky and Boholyubov’s informal Privat group of companies.
Since 2016, Kolomoisky and his businesses have filed hundreds of lawsuits against the state over PrivatBank’s nationalization. The bank’s new state-appointed management struck back by seeking justice abroad. It brought suit against the two oligarchs in countries where they allegedly parked the stolen money.
The legal fight continues to this day.
Earlier this month, the Sixth Court of Appeals in Kyiv restarted hearings into Kolomoisky’s major litigation against PrivatBank seeking to annul the share purchase agreement for the bank. The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 26.
