The Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom has dismissed an appeal by former owners Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolyubov regarding a prior ruling by the High Court of England and Wales concerning PrivatBank. This decision, announced on May 22, reinforces the obligation of the former owners to compensate the bank over $3 billion for damages, interest, and legal costs.
PrivatBank’s press service stated that the court successfully rejected the former owners’ attempts to contest a ruling from July 2025. The appellate court upheld the initial decision, which mandates Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov to reimburse the bank for losses incurred during their ownership.
Specifically, the Court of Appeal dismissed arguments presented by the former owners, who claimed they had returned misappropriated funds through subsequent fraudulent activities against the bank. PrivatBank has indicated its intention to pursue enforcement of the court’s ruling concerning the seized assets of the former beneficiaries to recover the owed compensation.
Nils Melngailis, the chairman of PrivatBank’s Supervisory Board, expressed the bank’s commitment to recovering significant funds that were misappropriated, emphasizing the importance of these funds being returned for the benefit of the Ukrainian people. He acknowledged the unwavering support from stakeholders and international partners, which he credited as essential for this legal victory.
On May 15, reports indicated that the Civil Chamber of the Court of Appeal in London had concluded hearings on the arguments presented by both parties. In November 2025, the High Court of England ruled that Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov, who were the largest shareholders at the time of PrivatBank’s nationalization in late 2016, are liable to pay over $3 billion to the bank.
The Ukrainian government decided to nationalize PrivatBank following recommendations from the National Bank of Ukraine and the bank’s shareholders, primarily Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov. The state has since invested over 155 billion hryvnias into the bank’s recapitalization. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, the losses incurred prior to nationalization amounted to at least $5.5 billion, a figure that Kolomoisky has publicly dismissed as nonsense.
In recent years, Ukrainian authorities have been engaged in legal battles against the former shareholders of PrivatBank in both domestic and international courts.
The UK Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling requiring former PrivatBank owners Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov to pay over $3 billion in damages. This decision reinforces the ongoing legal efforts by Ukrainian authorities to recover funds misappropriated during their ownership of the bank.