The UK Supreme Court ruled on a $3 billion loan that Viktor Yanukovych took from Vladimir Putin in December 2013 before fleeing Kyiv.
This is evidenced by the court's decision.
The Supreme Court unanimously decided that the case could not be decided in the order of simplified proceedings.
"This means that Ukraine will be allowed to defend the claim for the amounts due under the bonds in the High Court," the message says.
According to the decision, Ukraine can continue the defense on the basis that the loan was taken because of the "threat of use of force by Russia".
Reaction of Ukraine
"Ukraine won another victory over the aggressor - in the Supreme Court of Great Britain in the case of Eurobonds worth $3 billion. The court decided that the defense of Ukraine based on the facts of threats of Russian aggression should receive a full procedure. Justice will be ours!" - wrote the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Twitter.
The press service of the Ministry of Finance noted that Russia tried to convince the English court to make a decision in favor of Russia, applying a shortened procedure and thereby avoiding a detailed investigation of its actions by the English court.
"But, in the end, the Supreme Court rejected Russia's request and rightly recognized that the arguments of Ukraine's line of defense regarding coercion are valid and should be properly examined with an examination of all the evidence," the message reads.
The Ministry of Finance added that Russia will have to make a full disclosure of information in the case regarding the actions directed against Ukraine, and Moscow has the burden of proving to the court that the threats towards Ukraine did not affect Ukraine's decision to issue Eurobonds.
As Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted, the court recognized the strong position of Ukraine's defense regarding Russia's coercion and threats to use force, which Russia made back in 2013 to force Ukraine to issue these Eurobonds. "Now the Kremlin will have to disclose all information regarding the actions against Ukraine in an open court hearing," he added.
It will be recalled that in December 2013, Ukraine issued Eurobonds worth 3 billion dollars at 5% per annum, which were purchased by the Russian Ministry of Finance. The Russian Ministry of Finance filed a lawsuit to collect debt from Ukraine in February 2016.
In September 2018, the Court of Appeal of England upheld Ukraine's appeal in the dispute with the Russian Federation over the so-called "Yanukovych debt" of $3 billion. According to the decision, the High Court of London should return to the consideration of the debt dispute "within the framework of classical judicial proceedings, taking into account all the political aspects of the case." In particular, the court must take into account the pressure Viktor Yanukovych was subjected to from the Kremlin before his escape from Kyiv to the territory of Russia.
In November 2018, the Russian Federation decided to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal on the need for a full-scale trial on the pressure argument.