The Supreme Court finally ordered Oleh Bakhmatyuk to pay over UAH 1.2 billion to the NBU

The Supreme Court has put an end to the long-standing dispute between the National Bank of Ukraine and the former owner of PJSC VAB Bank, Oleh Bakhmatyuk. The court finally confirmed the decision to recover from the businessman over UAH 1.2 billion in favor of the NBU for the bank’s debts under a refinancing loan.

The NBU press service reports this.

The Supreme Court left the decision unchanged

On May 27, the Civil Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court left unchanged the decisions of the courts of previous instances that satisfied the NBU’s claim against Oleh Bakhmatyuk as a guarantor for VAB Bank’s obligations.

The National Bank emphasized that the decision has become final and confirmed the principle of legal certainty.

“The adopted decision confirms that procedural instruments cannot be used as a way to endlessly delay the final resolution of the dispute,” said Oleksandr Zima, Director of the NBU’s Legal Department.

The debt arose back in 2014

As the NBU recalled, in 2014 VAB Bank received a stabilization refinancing loan in the amount of UAH 1.2 billion.

Oleg Bakhmatyuk concluded a surety agreement with the National Bank and assumed personal obligations to return the funds in the event of the bank’s failure to fulfill its obligations.

Due to the violation of the terms of the agreement, the NBU went to court.

In January 2025, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv ruled to recover more than UAH 1.2 billion from Bakhmatyuk, and in the fall of the same year, the Kyiv Court of Appeal left this decision unchanged.

The NBU continues to sue Bakhmatyuk

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, litigation between the National Bank and the former owner of the banking group continues.

Currently, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv is considering five more NBU claims regarding debts:

PJSC “VB Bank”;
PJSC “Commercial Bank “Financial Initiative””.

Among the demands:

collection of debts under other refinancing loans;
execution of surety agreements;
repayment of obligations of insolvent banks to the NBU.

According to the regulator, the total amount of claims against Oleg Bakhmatyuk is about UAH 7.9 billion.

It was also previously reported that Oschadbank sold Bakhmatyuk’s debts to former top managers of Rinat Akhmetov’s structures. The loans were secured by elevators, poultry farms, an egg processing plant and other assets of the businessman.