The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has decided that the case initiated by Russia against Ukraine, regarding Eurobonds worth 3 billion US dollars, should be sent to a full trial in open court.
About this informs press service of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.
It is noted that the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom today came to the conclusion that the arguments of the line of defense of Ukraine regarding coercion, which are based on the facts of threats of aggression from Russia, should be investigated according to the full procedure during an open session in an English court.
As Judge Mr. Blair noted in his decision of the court of first instance, the position of the defense of Ukraine regarding coercion “is unequivocally strong”, and “Russia’s threats to use force in 2013 should be considered in the context of the actual use of force in 2014”.
“By making this landmark decision more than seven years after Russia filed a lawsuit against Ukraine in an English court, the Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the United Kingdom’s court system, thereby supported Ukraine’s position, which Ukraine had already stated for many years in a row,” – it is stated in the notification of the Ministry of Finance.
The department adds that Russia, acting through its proxy, tried to persuade the English court to rule in favor of Russia, applying a shortened procedure and thereby avoiding a detailed investigation of its actions by the English court. But ultimately, the Supreme Court rejected Russia’s request and rightly recognized that Ukraine’s line of defense’s arguments about coercion are valid and should be properly examined with an examination of all the evidence.
The Supreme Court ruled that the defense’s strong case must be investigated through a full trial. The Supreme Court at this stage did not review the facts of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine, as the appeal “took place before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022”, but Lord Carnwath, a Supreme Court judge, noted that Russia’s subsequent behavior could not be ignored.
“Time will tell whether Russia has the courage to continue to press its claims in the case, for now Russia will have to make a full disclosure in the case regarding the actions directed against Ukraine and answer for its terrible actions towards Ukraine in an open trial in an English court. Now Russia has the burden of proving to the court that threats towards Ukraine did not influence Ukraine’s decision to issue Eurobonds, which were later used by Russia as one of the weapons against Ukraine. The Supreme Court noted that Ukraine will succeed in this case, unless the contrary is proven, that Russian pressure did not play any role in Ukraine’s decision to issue Eurobonds,” the Ministry of Finance emphasizes.
It adds that all the evidence will be presented to the court for study and under the watchful eye of the world community.
It should be noted that in December 2013, the leader of the aggressor country of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the then President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, agreed on the allocation of a loan in the amount of $15 billion through the placement of Ukrainian securities.
Bonds worth 3 billion dollars were placed on the Irish Stock Exchange on December 20, 2013 and bought by Russia.
Subsequently, in 2015, Ukraine negotiated the restructuring of these Eurobonds, but Ukraine did not receive consent from Russia to restructure Eurobonds worth $3 billion.
But then the Government introduced a moratorium on the payment of $3 billion in Eurobonds.
In February 2016, Russia filed a lawsuit against Ukraine at the High Court in London to collect the debt, and in May, Ukraine filed its defense in the lawsuit.
In its objections, the Ukrainian side indicated that the loan agreement concluded in December 2013 is invalid and cannot be enforced due to pressure from the Russian Federation throughout 2013 in order to prevent Ukraine from concluding the Association Agreement with the EU.
The objection also cites evidence of Russia’s military invasion of the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the subsequent illegal annexation of the peninsula.
The actions of the Russian Federation aimed at destabilizing the situation in the east of Ukraine, the facts of support for separatist individuals and military actions in this region are listed separately.
