Kyiv's business court postpones hearing of Kolomoisky's lawsuit seeking to return shares in PrivatBank for April 16

KYIV. April 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The business court of Kyiv announced a break until April 16, 2019 in the case under a lawsuit of former shareholders in PrivatBank Ihor Kolomoisky and Triantal Investments Ltd. seeking to declare invalid the agreement to sell and purchase of this bank signed on December 21, 2016 between the Finance Ministry and persons who were shareholders in the bank.

An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that on Tuesday the claimants asked to expand the list of their claims with a clause about the return of shares in PrivatBank to them and the court accepted the petition.

The court rejected a petition of the Finance Ministry, which asked to leave the lawsuit without hearing. The ministry said that the materials of the case do not have any proofs that Kolomoisky and Triantal have ownership right to the shares of PrivatBank, any confirmation of the legal competence of Triantal Investments Ltd. and powers of persons acted on behalf of claimants who signed the lawsuit.

As reported, the government of Ukraine at the suggestion of the National Bank of Ukraine and the former shareholders of PrivatBank, the largest of whom at that time were Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov, on December 18, 2016 decided to nationalize this largest Ukrainian financial institution.

The business court of Kyiv at the second attempt at the end of February 2019 accepted a claim of Kolomoisky and Triantal Investments Ltd. earlier holding 41.6572% and 16.5748% of shares in PrivatBank seeking to declare invalid the contract on the sale and purchase of this bank signed by the Finance Ministry and all persons being then the shareholders in the bank on December 21, 2016. The court also satisfied the petition of the plaintiffs and subpoenaed the specified sales contract from the defendants (the Finance Ministry, the Deposit Guarantee Fund and state-owned Ukrgasbank). The document was to be presented before March 26.