Ukraine has fulfilled the conditions for the new IMF program.
The Verkhovna Rada adopted in the second reading and as a whole bill No. 2571-d on certain issues of the functioning of the banking system (the so-called “anti-Kolomoisky”).
The bill was supported by 270 people’s deputies. Consideration of the document took place according to a special procedure. President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived to support its adoption.
The passage of this law was the final requirement for the new International Monetary Fund loan program.
The law relates to litigation around the decisions of the National Bank in relation to all banks that went bankrupt as a result of the 2014-2015 crisis.
The law finally prohibits the return of nationalized banks to former owners, prohibits the return to the market of bankrupt banks, the owners of which, through the courts, have achieved the annulment of the decision of the National Bank on their insolvency.
The law will directly affect, first of all, almost all lawsuits that are going around the nationalization of PrivatBank.
The adoption of the Law does not directly leave bank owners defenseless before the state, and does not deprive them of judicial protection. It leaves the right through the court to prove the illegality of the decision of the NBU, as well as to confirm that the bank has capital at the time of withdrawal from the market.
The document clarifies that the former owners of bankrupt banks can indeed recognize the actions of the state as unlawful, but cannot regain control over the banks. At the same time, they can claim material compensation, but for this they must prove their losses with the help of an international auditor.
In addition, the bill gives the National Bank additional powers, according to which it will be able to demand a change in the composition of the board or board of the bank, if it recognizes them as ineffective, and also oblige the bank to identify related parties before making transactions with them.
At the same time, the adoption of this legal act leaves many questions, in particular about that how it complies with the principle of non-retroactivity of laws.
In fact, the adopted Law directly extends its effect to relations, including administrative ones, that took place under the action of other regulatory legal acts. Meanwhile, Article 58 of the Constitution of Ukraine directly enshrines the principle that laws and other normative acts do not have retroactive effect in time, except when they mitigate or cancel the responsibility of a person. In other words, direct contradictions between the norms of the adopted Law and the principles of law enshrined in the Constitution are visible to the naked eye. It is obvious that the legislator, in this case, was more guided by political and economic expediency, since the receipt of the next tranche of the IMF is directly dependent on the adoption of this Law. However, it is unlikely that its entry into force will put an end to the protracted conflict around not only Privatbank, but also other banks, the introduction of an interim administration in which is being challenged in the courts. For sure, the story will continue, already at the level of the Constitutional Court, where the Law will most likely be considered for compliance with the Constitution. Those wishing to appeal to the Constitutional Court in this case are likely to be found.
© Legal agency “AKTIV”, 2020.
