Israeli court turns down PrivatBank's lawsuit against Kolomoiskyi, Bogolyubov

The Tel Aviv district court has ruled that it does not have jurisdiction to hear the lawsuit of PrivatBank, one of Ukraine’s largest state banks, against former shareholders Ihor Kolomoiskyi and Gennadiy Boholyubov.

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In a statement on Friday, PrivatBank said the Israeli court "ruled that Israel is not an appropriate jurisdiction to hear the claim", adding it has the right to appeal the decision.

In December 2019, PrivatBank initiated legal proceedings in the Tel Aviv court against Messrs Kolomoiskyi and Bogolyubov, accusing them of withdrawing at least USD 600 million from the bank in 2007 to 2011 and putting the money on an account with the Israeli bank Discount.

While the lawsuit was dismissed, PrivatBank points to a number of positive conclusions in the court's decision.

In particular, the court recognised that PrivatBank has a "sufficient case for trial" against Messrs Kolomoiskyi and Bogolyubov.

"The court ruling states that the bank has duly proved that funds were transferred from it to Israel through a series of complex and carefully thought-out transfers," the statement read.

In addition, the Israeli court also rejected the former owners’ claim that they were being persecuted by the Ukrainian government and ruled that sooner or later they would have to defend their position on PrivatBank's claim in Israel.

In 2018, the High Court of Justice in London also initially ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to hear PrivatBank's lawsuit against Messrs Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov, but this decision was later successfully appealed.