Ukraine has won an interim victory in the "Yanukovych's $3 billion" case, which is being considered in a London court
Now the claim will be considered at a full trial instead of a shortened one, which Russia insisted on
Ukraine has received a significant boost in its attempt to cancel the $3 billion search warrant: The Supreme Court of London has ruled that judges must take into account the background of Russia's threatening behavior in the run-up to the annexation of Crimea.
Source. Bloomberg
The Supreme Court decided that the case should be sent for a full trial in an open session. The case concerns $3 billion worth of Eurobonds issued in December 2013 as a result of coercion by Russia.
Russia, on the other hand, tried to persuade the English court to apply a shortened procedure and thus avoid a detailed examination of its actions by the English court.
The long-awaited decision allows Ukraine to argue that the bonds sold in 2013 on the eve of Euromaidan in Kyiv were part of Moscow's unlawful political and military aggression.
"The success of Ukraine's defense depends on whether it can prove that Russia threatened the use of force and that those threats were the reason for Ukraine's decision to enter into the transaction," Judge Robert Reed said in the decision.
"It will be Russia's burden to convince the court that its threats did not contribute to Ukraine's decision to issue these Eurobonds," the Finance Ministry said in a statement. "All evidence will be examined and the world will be watching the process."
The judges ruled that while Ukraine could not claim that Moscow had used economic pressure, it could argue that Russia's threats to use violence against the armed forces and civilians constituted "coercion."
At the same time, the judges did not allow Ukraine to argue that the agreement was concluded without the authority of the government. According to the court, the then President (Yanukovych – ed.) and the Minister of Finance were involved in the preparation of the loan.
Background. In December 2013, Russian President Putin and then-President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to provide a $15 billion loan through the placement of Ukrainian securities.
Bonds worth $3 billion were placed on the Irish Stock Exchange on December 20, 2013, and were bought back by Russia.
Subsequently, in 2015, Ukraine negotiated the restructuring of these Eurobonds, but Ukraine did not receive consent from Russia to restructure the $3 billion Eurobonds. They matured on December 20, 2015. In December 2015, the Cabinet of Ministers imposed a moratorium on the repayment of $3 billion on Eurobonds.
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