Supreme Court upholds ruling to collect over UAH 1.2 bln from Bakhmatiuk

The Civil Cassation Court within the Supreme Court on May 27 upheld decisions of lower courts to collect more than UAH 1.2 billion from former owner of VAB Bank Oleh Bakhmatiuk in favor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

"The decision confirms the importance of adhering to the principle of legal certainty and that procedural tools cannot be used as a means of indefinitely delaying the final resolution of a dispute," Director of the Legal Department of the regulator Oleksandr Zyma said.

The National Bank recalled that VAB Bank concluded an agreement with the regulator for a UAH 1.2 billion stabilization loan in 2014. Bakhmatiuk guaranteed the return of these funds by signing a surety agreement, taking on personal obligations to repay the financial institution’s debt.

Due to the bank owner’s failure to meet obligations under the surety agreement, the NBU filed a lawsuit with the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv to collect the debt.

As reported, the Pechersky District Court ruled on January 30, 2025 to collect UAH 1.2 billion from Bakhmatiuk, and the Kyiv Appeals Court upheld this decision on October 28, 2025. Currently, another five cases involving lawsuits filed by the NBU against Bakhmatiuk over the debts of VAB Bank and the Financial Initiative bank remain pending before the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv. The total amount of debt the regulator is seeking to collect from the former bank owner is around UAH 7.9 billion.