The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the bail-in procedure of PrivatBank and dismissed the Surkis family’s claim

The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the bail-in procedure of PrivatBank and dismissed the Surkis family’s claim

On April 3, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the cassation appeal of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in the case filed by the Surkis family’s companies. They demanded to recover from PrivatBank more than 150 million dollars, which had been converted into bank shares during the bail-in procedure in 2016, when the bank was withdrawn from the market with state involvement.

The Supreme Court changed the decision of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal from October 28, 2024, excluding the conclusions that the claims should be resolved within the framework of commercial litigation. Now, the court has recognized that the bail-in procedure cannot be contested in court.

The case related to six companies of the Surkis family, which challenged the NBU’s decision to recognize them as related parties to PrivatBank and demanded the return of the money that was converted into bank shares during its nationalization in December 2016.

This decision further confirmed the legality of the nationalization of PrivatBank, which was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2016 to avoid systemic risks in the banking sector and ensure financial stability in the country.