Ukraine's Supreme Court gets appeals against freezing of shares in Russian subsidiary banks as part 'Crimean' compensation claim by PrivatBank ex-chief
Ukraine's Supreme Court on September 14, 2018, received three appeals against the September 5, 2018 decision of Kyiv's Appeals Court to recognize and execute the May 2, 2018 decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on compensation from Russia for property in Crimea belonging to former PrivatBank owner Ihor Kolomoisky and his associates, including the freezing of shares in Ukrainian subsidiaries of Russian banks.
According to information published on the Supreme Court's website, the appeal notices arrived on September 14, along with a motion to freeze the execution of the Kyiv Appeals Court's decision.
"Given to the judge" is the status of all four documents on the Supreme Court's website.
In the case of a petition, Judge Yulia Cherniak is indicated, in case of complaints together with her as a rapporteur judge, the case will be examined by members of the judge panel Borys Hulko and Dmytro Luspenyk, the Supreme Court's website says.
As reported, the Kyiv Court of Appeals on September 5 decided to seize the shares of the Ukrainian subsidiaries of Russian banks with the state's participation, namely VTB, Prominvestbank and Sberbank (all based in Kyiv). The decision was made in connection with the statement on securing the claim of ex-chairman of the board of PrivatBank Oleksandr Dubilet and 17 more companies, that had assets in Crimea, on recognizing and executing the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague dated March 2 on recovery from the Russian Federation.
According to the case file, the Hague Arbitration awarded the plaintiffs approximately $130.5 million in compensation for real estate, $9.2 million in compensation for litigation costs, as well as interest on these amounts at a rate of 12-month LIBOR plus 1% of compound percent annually.
In particular, the court ruling dated September 5 bans VTB, Prominvestbank and Sberbank from liquidating or reorganizing the legal entity, carrying out any actions aimed at alienating movable and immovable property belonging to the banks, including under contracts for sale, purchase, exchange, donation and etc.
According to the ruling, it takes effect from the moment of its issue, but can be appealed in the Supreme Court within 30 days.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague earlier said that the Tribunal issued its unanimous Award on the Merits, addressing issues pertaining to liability and damages. Other details of the award were not disclosed. The article of the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) Arbitration Rules 1976 which the tribunal referred to says that the award shall be made in writing and shall be final and binding on the parties. The parties undertake to carry out the award without delay.
The lawsuit was initiated by the claimants against Russia on June 19, 2015 under the Ukraine-Russia bilateral investment treaty signed on November 27, 21998 and under the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) regulations.
The Claimants contended that, as of August 2014, the Russian Federation breached its obligations under the Ukraine-Russia BIT by interfering with and ultimately expropriating their investments in real estate located in Crimea. Aerobud, Crimea Development, NIVa-tour, UBK-Invest, Edelveis-2000, Planeta, Privatoffice, Privatland, Dan-Panorama, Energetik recreation center, Financial Capital asset management company and Financial Vector asset management company are among claimants.