Former PrivatBank owner Ihor Kolomoisky is not ready to maintain his line of defense against PrivatBank's lawsuit during cross-examination at the upcoming trial on the merits in the High Court of London, which will begin on June 12, PrivatBank said on Friday following the hearings held here on May 23.

"In addition, it was confirmed that none of Mr. Kolomoisky's witnesses is also ready to give oral evidence during the hearing on the merits," the state bank said.

The financial institution recalled that the hearing on the merits would concern PrivatBank's multibillion-dollar claim of fraud and misappropriation of funds, among others, against Kolomoisky and his partner Hennadiy Boholiubov, whose refusal to testify during the hearing on the merits became known at the judicial procedural hearing on March 29.

"Thus, there will be no witnesses at the trial who would testify in fact in favor of Mr. Kolomoisky and Mr. Boholiubov," PrivatBank says.

According to it, the defendants and their witnesses did not explain the reasons for refusing to testify. The bank believes that this indicates that the ex-owners of the bank do not have an adequate response to PrivatBank's allegations of their fraudulent activities.

As reported, PrivatBank, nationalized in December 2016, a year later filed a lawsuit in the High Court of London against ex-owners Kolomoisky and Boholiubov, as well as six British companies allegedly associated with them, and obtained a court order for a worldwide seizure of their assets in excess of $2.5 billion.