Shareholders of banks in Ukraine are deprived of legal instruments to protect their business – political scientist

In Ukraine, the power of the National Bank and the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals has been artificially absolutized, and this is a shameful practice. Such a situation leads to the fact that bank shareholders do not have legal instruments to protect their business. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive comment to UNN by political scientist Serhiy Shabovta.

The practice where the NBU and the DGF have unlimited possibilities in actions regarding banks is indeed shameful. Just as it is shameful that it is impossible to defend one’s rights in courts

According to him, today in Ukraine, a situation has developed where bank shareholders are practically deprived of legal instruments to protect their business. He added that there is no defined statute in Ukraine, specifically enshrined in the banking sector. “Today, there are many banks that survive with 100% foreign capital. But despite all that, the legislation, the system of laws, has made it so that the power of the National Bank has been artificially absolutized,” Shabovta explained.

He reminded that the National Bank has repeatedly changed its leaders in recent years, but these people, according to him, were not independent specialists.

What to expect from an institution that has changed a bunch of leaders, and these were not specialists from the banking sector, but rather people devoted to the system and ruling clans. That is, they were initially dependent on the influence of the authorities, on their desires. And that is why we saw bank failures, and banks being withdrawn from the market, the destruction of banks

At the same time, according to Shabovta, currently in Ukraine, the capital of legal entities that kept their money in certain private banks is absolutely unprotected. “The deposits of legal entities, they simply die, they are plundered, they are stretched out, and no one is able to explain this. Well, this brings us back to the fact that to a large extent, the state institution itself, let’s say, has an imitative-conditional character. It does not perform the functions that a powerful state should perform,” Shabovta said.

Let’s addOn July 30, 2025, the Collegium of the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court closed proceedings in the dispute between Concord Bank and the National Bank of Ukraine and the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals. Earlier, the courts of first and appellate instances recognized the NBU’s decision to withdraw the bank from the market as illegal, but the Supreme Court overturned these decisions without even considering the case on its merits.

In its ruling, the collegium directly stated that no court in Ukraine is empowered to consider claims by shareholders of banks undergoing liquidation regarding unlawful actions or decisions of the National Bank of Ukraine.

In this ruling, the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court set forth a legal conclusion that, according to the specifics of the legal regulation of the disputed legal relations, the claims of a former shareholder of an insolvent bank (in this case, a liquidated bank) are not subject to consideration either under administrative or commercial legal proceedings, and by the subjective composition of the participants in the legal relations, they do not fall under the jurisdiction of a civil court. That is, such claims are not subject to consideration by any court

Thus, the Supreme Court did not evaluate the decisions of the lower courts and did not recognize them as illegal or unfounded. Olena Sosedka, co-founder of Concord Bank, considers the court’s decision biased, stating that shareholders were deprived of their constitutional rights to protection.

Is the right to do business in Ukraine no longer protected? The NBU can destroy any bank without punishment27.08.25, 18:01 • 222228 views

RecallDespite the war in Ukraine, the process of withdrawing banks from the market has not stopped. Thus, since February 24, 2022, liquidation has been initiated for 8 banks. In 2023, for the first time in Ukraine, not only bankrupt banks but also profitable institutions fell under liquidation and license revocation – this refers to Concord Bank. As Olena Sosedka, co-founder of the bank, stated, at the time the regulator announced the decision to liquidate the bank, the financial institution had enough highly liquid assets to make all necessary payments within 2-3 weeks. However, the bank liquidation process is strictly regulated by law and can generally last up to three years.