Page 45 - UKRRptMar20

8.1.4 ​Bank news
PrivatBank Chief Petr Krumphanzl says there is a “hybrid war” being waged against the bank’s key management​, in comments to the FT. Krumphanzl says he faces six “spurious” criminal investigations as active investigations into PrivatBank by multiple law enforcement agencies continue. The IMF has agreed a $5.5bn loan for Ukraine contingent on the government’s safeguarding of the 2016 bank clean-up. He told the FT “If the rhetoric changes and the IMF’s position becomes negative, then many of these investors will actually start to withdraw the money that they already put in the country.”
Ukraine’s Supreme Court ruled on January 31 to postpone for an indefinite time a cassation (appellate) hearing on the bail-in of the Surkis family funds held in Privatbank​, Interfax-Ukraine reported the same day. The reason for the postponement was the Cabinet of Ministers requested to become a party to the court process, instead of the Finance Ministry. The ministry is no more the shareholder of Privatbank as it has transferred all the bank’s shares to the Cabinet in September 2019. Recall, the first- and second-tier courts ruled in 2017 that Privatbank should return the deposits of the Surkis family (about UAH1.1bn) that were bailed-in after Privatbank was recognized insolvent and before it was nationalized in December 2016. The reason for their funds’ bail-in was that the National Bank had recognized the Surkis family as a related party to the bank. Following ​the ruling of the second-tier court in November 2017​, the bank ​repaid the funds to the Surkises​. Besides appealing the ruling returning the Surkis family its deposits, Privatbank and the government are aiming to challenge in the Supreme Court the ruling of second-tier court that questions the validity of entire bail-in process, Interfax-Ukraine reported. Recall, during the December 2016 bail-in, Privatbank converted UAH29.4bn of obligations to “related parties,” including $555mn in Eurobonds (PRBANK), into the bank’s equity.
45​ UKRAINE Country Report​ March 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com