Supreme Court rules in favour of PrivatBank in dispute with Kolomoiskyi-linked company

The Supreme Court of Ukraine on Tuesday turned down the claim by Ingosstrakh, an insurance company linked to oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, to recover UAH 209.5 million from PrivatBank.

• Subscribe to LIGA.net in English on Twitter

Before the bank was nationalised in 2016, Ingosstrakh was one of the market leaders in both insurance premiums and claims. It insured all financial risks of PrivatBank’s borrowers, with other insurers not allowed to offer their services.

Formally, Ingosstrakh was not associated with PrivatBank and was not part of its banking group. However, one of its former top executives, Olena Bychikhina, is now part of a criminal proceedings on the withdrawal of money from PrivatBank.

According to the latest financial statements filed by Ingosstrakh, its insurance premiums amounted to UAH 136.5 million by the end of 2022; assets were worth UAH 1.07 billion; and insurance reserves were UAH 4.7 million. The company's market share in terms of insurance premiums reached 0.4 percent.

In March 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine shut down Ingosstrakh since its ownership structure violated the law.

Shortly before that, the company had sued PrivatBank, claiming UAH 209.5 million in lost profits due to the bank's decision to refuse its services between July 2019 and April 2022.

All the courts have dismissed the claim, pointing out that the company did not provide adequate evidence of the bank’s unlawful behaviour, nor of the existence of damage and its amount.

A similar case involving Credo, an insurance company that is claiming for UAH 374.7 million, is being heard in an appeals court, and PrivatBank hopes it will be dismissed following the latest ruling.