Decision of Court of Appeal in London on PrivatBank marks new round of proceedings – Finance ministry
The award of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales to uphold the appeal of PrivatBank (Kyiv) and confirm the jurisdiction of the financial institution's claim against former owners of the bank marks the new round of the proceedings – the main case hearing, and this is an important step as part of the global strategy of the bank to return the funds illegally removed by the bank's previous owners, the Finance Ministry of Ukraine has said.
"Judges of the Court of Appeal concluded that the bank has sufficient preconditions for judicial review of the case and for compensation in the amount of about $3 billion. A court award for the worldwide seizure of assets remains valid until the award in the main case hearing," the Finance Ministry said in a press release on Tuesday.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), for its part, also welcomed the decision of the Court of Appeal.
"The court's decision is good news for Ukrainian taxpayers and the Ukrainian economy as a whole. This will allow us to continue working to protect the interests of the bank and reimburse the funds of depositors illegally withdrawn from PrivatBank before the state enters its capital," the NBU said in a press release.
The central bank said that the bank should continue focusing on bad debts and the return of misappropriated funds.
"Today, not only PrivatBank faces such tasks, but also the entire banking system, which should effectively redistribute financial resources and support economic growth," the NBU said.