Court Returns Kolomoyskyi's Airline to State Ownership

The Northern Commercial Court of Appeals ruled to return 94.572% of the shares in the airline “Dniproavia”—which were previously controlled by the company “Galtera,” linked to Ihor Kolomoyskyi—to state ownership. 

The court terminated the 2009 privatization agreement and ordered the depositary institution to write off 111,956,480 shares from the private investor’s account for subsequent transfer to the account of the State Property Fund of Ukraine.

The former state-owned airline “Dniproavia” owned the property complex of the Dnipro Airport. During the privatization in August 2009, the state’s stake was sold for 58.4 million hryvnias (about $7.3 million at the exchange rate at the time) with a commitment to invest 882.1 million hryvnias (about $110 million). Prolonged legal battles ensued due to the failure to meet the investment conditions, which the company attributed to the military’s use of the airfield since 2014; however, legal efforts by representatives of the Dnipro City Council and state agencies ultimately stripped the company of its operating rights and returned the strategic facility to the state.

Source: Attorney Olena Donenko, who represented the Dnipro City Council in court.

In 2017, “UkrTatNafta,” owned by Ihor Kolomoyskyi’s “Privat” Group, filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast seeking to have PJSC “Dniproavia” declared bankrupt.

In 2020, the Supreme Court rejected the State Property Fund’s appeal, in which it sought to return Ihor Kolomoyskyi’s airline, Dniproavia, to state ownership.