Oschadbank wins dispute with Ukrtelecom at Supreme Court

Ukraine's state-owned bank Oschadbank has defended its position at the Supreme Court in a dispute with telecoms operator Ukrtelecom regarding the termination of the contract for the purchase and sale of bonds, the debt under which amounts to almost UAH 1.5 billion, the bank's press service has reported.
"On July 23, 2019, Oschadbank defended its position at the Supreme Court in a dispute with Ukrtelecom regarding the termination of the contract for the purchase and sale of bonds, the debt under which amounts to almost UAH 1.5 billion. The Supreme Court upheld a cassation appeal filed by Oschadbank against a Kyiv Economic Court ruling of September 27, 2018, and a Pivnichny Economic Court of Appeals resolution of February 18, 2019, and revoked the decision of the trial and appeal courts on the termination of the contract for the purchase and sale of bonds (issued by LLC ESU, a majority shareholder of Ukrtelecom) signed by Oschadbank and Ukrtelecom. The Supreme Court issued a new ruling completely rejecting Ukrtelecom's claims to Oschadbank," the report said.

The Supreme Court finally ended the litigation that lasted for almost two years and thanks to which Ukrtelecom managed to avoid paying the debt. This result was achieved through the persistent, consistent and professional work of Oschadbank's team of lawyers.

On September 15, 2015, Ukrtelecom and Oschadbank signed a contract under which the bank undertook to transfer to the ownership of Ukrtelecom and the latter undertook to accept not later than March 15, 2017, and pay for bonds issued by LLC ESU (the owner of the controlling stake in Ukrtelecom ) at a price of UAH 1 billion and accumulated coupon yield on bonds.

In August 2017, Ukrtelecom, in order to avoid the fulfillment of obligations under the contract (the payment of more than UAH 1 billion to the bank), filed a lawsuit with Kyiv Economic Court to terminate the contract and recognize the obligations under the contract as terminated.