American funds of the liquidated Prominvestbank will return to Ukraine. How it happened
14 March 09:42
The Deposit Guarantee Fund has succeeded in lifting the seizure of Prominvestbank’s funds in the United States in the amount of more than USD 2 million and more than EUR 36.6 million and proved in the US Court of Appeals that these funds belong to the state of Ukraine. This was reported by the Deposit Guarantee Fund, according to
As a reminder, on February 25, 2022, the National Bank decided to revoke the banking license and liquidate banks controlled by the Russian Federation. This applied to JSC International Reserve Bank, which was 100% owned by PJSC Sberbank of Russia, and PJSC AKB Prominvestbank, which was 99.77% owned by the State Development Corporation VEB.rf.
In fact, after that, the story of the refund began.
According to the Deposit Guarantee Fund, during the liquidation procedure of PJSC Prominvestbank, it was found that its correspondent account with BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON (USA) contained USD 2 million and more than EUR 36.6 million. In 2022, these funds were blocked by the US side in connection with the imposition of US sanctions against this bank as a subsidiary of the Russian VEB.rf.
In November 2022, several American citizens began to claim these funds as victims of the Taliban’s actions in Afghanistan in 2016. During the trial in the American court, the ties between the Russian Federation and the Taliban were established, which led the American citizens to demand compensation for the damage caused to them at the expense of the property of the Russian Federation, in particular, claiming the blocked assets of PJSC Prominvestbank on correspondent accounts with THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON.
However, at the time they filed their lawsuit in the District Court of New York, Prominvestbank already belonged to the state of Ukraine on the basis of the Law of Ukraine “On the Basic Principles of Forced Seizure of Property Rights of the Russian Federation and its Residents in Ukraine” and the decision of the National Security and Defense Council “On Forced Seizure of Property Rights of the Russian Federation and its Residents in Ukraine.”
In the course of the litigation, the Deposit Guarantee Fund managed to prove in the New York District Court that the plaintiffs could not claim the funds of Prominvestbank.
The US citizens appealed the ruling, but on March 5, 2025, the Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the trial court in favor of the Deposit Guarantee Fund.
“The unblocking of more than USD 2 million and almost EUR 37 million for Prominvestbank is not just a legal success, but a contribution to the financial stability of the state,” said Viktor Novikov, Deputy Managing Director of the Fund.
According to him, the main obstacles have now been removed and we can expect the funds to be transferred. After that, they will be transferred to the state budget.
By the way, as of January 1, 2014, there were 180 licensed banks in Ukraine. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 71 banks had a banking license. Currently, there are 61 commercial banks operating in Ukraine.
