Ex-owner of PrivatBank Ihor Kolomoisky has demanded $2 billion in PrivatBank capital be returned to him.
“I don’t understand the government’s position. They want to keep PrivatBank? Let them. I don’t need PrivatBank. But there was $2 billion in capital there. Let them return it to me and there will be no problems,” Kolomoisky said in an interview with the Kyiv-based Ekonomichna Pravda ezine.
“Let’s say a house cost Hr 1 million. Or Hr 10 million together with the land it was built on. How much would you ask for in compensation? I would as for Hr 100 million, taking into account moral damages and all the unpleasant things which were said,” he said.
Kolomoisky said after the change in power he is counting on an honest and fair court hearing on the PrivatBank case.
“As long as Poroshenko [is president], there can be no fair trial in Ukraine. And not only on my case. I am not in a hurry. For me, this is not a life-or-death issue. It’s not about money, but the principle of the matter,” he said.
“Let them tell me whether my property was taken from me correctly, or incorrectly. If the latter, then I am entitled to compensation, in one form or another … If as a result of this whole ‘nationalization operation’ it turns out that the state suffered damage, then the persons who are involved in this should be held responsible. Not me, but those who did it,” he said.
Kolomoisky said the decision on nationalization of PrivatBank was made by ex-governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Valeriya Gontareva and NBU First Deputy Head Kateryna Rozhkova, who should be held responsible. He excluded from the number of those responsible ex-Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk.
“I cannot name Danyliuk. He participated but was not in charge. The main ones are Gontareva and Rozhkova. The rest were following orders. The government decided to nationalize PrivatBank based on documents provided by the NBU,” Kolomoisky said, adding that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also responsible.
“Let law enforcement agencies understand who violated this process. There were beneficiaries of the process, the IMF, for example, but they have an immune system. Lawyers are working on how to get to the bottom of it. [The IMF] ‘instigated’ it. There were specific people who came to Ukraine and checked how capitalization was going. They said that they would not give Ukraine money until the bank was taken [privatized],” Kolomoisky said.
As reported, the Kyiv District Administrative Court called a recess in Kolomoisky’s case against the NBU, the Individuals’ Deposit Guarantee Fund, Cabinet of Ministers and the National Securities and Stock Market Commission involving the nationalization of PrivatBank. The next hearing will be held on April 18.
On April 1, the Kyiv District Administrative Court completed hearing of the case on its merits. In accordance with the basis of court decisions, the proceedings in this administrative case were opened by a court ruling of June 14, 2017. PrivatBank and the Ministry of Finance are also involved in the case as third parties.
As reported, on December 18, 2016, the government at the suggestion of the National Bank of Ukraine and the shareholders of PrivatBank, the largest of whom at the time were Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov, decided to nationalize this largest financial institution in the Ukrainian market. The government received 100 percent of the bank’s capital, and PrivatBank was refinanced for the amount of Hr 116.8 billion.
