Supreme Court plans Surkis-Privatbank hearing for June 15

The Grand Chamber of Ukraine’s Supreme Court has
scheduled for June 15 the next hearing in the criminal complaint filed by the
Surkis family against the bail-in of its deposits in the nationalized
Privatbank (PRBANK), Interfax-Ukraine reported on May 6, citing the court’s
press service. Recall, on Apr. 27, the court decided to postpone the hearing
in the case scheduled for that day, citing pressure on its judges via mass
media. Later on, the court specified that pressure was applied by – among
others – the Prosecutor General, who openly supported the bank (and the
government) in the Surkis case.

The Surkis family is seeking for the courts to
overturn the decision by the state to bail-in their deposits in Privatbank of
about UAH 1.1 bln, which was made after the bank was declared insolvent and
before it was nationalized in December 2016. In 2017, first- and second-tier
courts ruled in favor of the Surkis family, while the Supreme Court is now hearing
Privatbank’s appeal of these lower court rulings.

It is widely expected by observers that the court will
issue its verdict on the case at the next hearing. The verdict will be
important for other lawsuits in which Ihor Kolomoisky, among the former shareholders
of Privatbank, is seeking to overturn the bank’s nationalization (the case in
now in an appellate court) and is separately attempting to recover the bank’s
shares that he lost as a result (that case is now in a first-tier court).

Recall, Ukraine’s parliament is on track to approving
a special bill that will prevent the return of failed banks to former
shareholders under any circumstances (the so-called anti-Kolomoisky law). The bill’s
adoption into law is a key precondition of the IMF to sign a new financial
support loan program with Ukraine.

Alexander Paraschiy: The Supreme Court’s announced hearing date grants adequate time to
parliament to approve the anti-Kolomoisky bill, which can happen in the next two weeks. In this way, Ukraine will maintain solid
relations with Western lenders, including the IMF, and secure multi-billion
multilateral and official financing in 2020.