The Northern Commercial Court of Appeal has ruled to return to the state the controlling stake in Dniproavia airline, linked to businessman Igor Kolomoisky. The court terminated the privatization agreement concluded in 2009 between the State Property Fund of Ukraine and the company Galtera.
Lawyer Elena Donenko, who represented the interests of the Dnipro City Council in the court proceedings, reported this on November 3.
According to the court decision, the state must be returned 111,956,480 shares of Dniproavia, which is 94.572% of the airline's charter capital. This stake was owned by LLC Galtera, which is linked to Igor Kolomoisky.
The decision was made in case No. 904/1247/24 after consideration of appeals by the Dnipro City Council, the State Property Fund of Ukraine, and Galtera.
The panel of judges ruled to terminate the share purchase agreement dated August 28, 2009, No. KPP-557. In addition, the depository institution was ordered to write off the said block of securities from Galtera's account and credit it to the account of the state of Ukraine represented by the State Property Fund.
"The 2009 investment agreement has been terminated, and the airport must return to the state represented by the SPFU," — Donenko commented on the decision.
According to the lawyer, the court process lasted many years. At the initial stage, lawyers sought to deprive Kolomoisky's structure of the right to operate the airfield, and then continued the fight to return corporate control over the airline to the state.
The dispute over Dniproavia and Dnipro Airport has been going on for more than ten years. After privatization in 2009, control over the airline was obtained by Galtera. Subsequently, state bodies and city authorities repeatedly tried through the courts to return the relevant assets.
In 2017, the Commercial Court of Kyiv denied the State Property Fund's claim to return Dniproavia to state ownership. Subsequently, litigation continued, and in 2020 the Supreme Court also ruled not in favor of the state.
A separate area of litigation was the issue of operating the airfield. In September 2022, the court confirmed the deprivation of Galtera's right to operate it. Later, the Dnipro City Council continued court proceedings related to airport management.
As Delo.ua notes, for a long time the control of private structures over the airport created obstacles to the development of Dnipro's air services. In particular, disputes arose regarding the admission of air carriers and the conditions for using airfield infrastructure.
The current decision concerns directly the block of shares of Dniproavia airline. It creates a legal basis for returning corporate control over the enterprise to the state, but actual execution of the decision requires appropriate depository operations.
This decision in itself does not ensure the resumption of air services. Due to martial law and closed airspace, civilian flights are not operated in Ukraine.
As of November 3, the actual completion of the transfer of shares to the state account was not reported. There is also no information yet about a possible cassation appeal of the ruling.
Based on materials from: Elena Donenko, Nashe Misto, Delo.ua.
