The company of sanctioned Russian oligarchs Fridman and Aven has filed a billion-dollar lawsuit against Ukraine over the nationalisation of Sense Bank

The Belgian company ABH Holdings S.A., owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine for more than a billion dollars over the nationalisation of Sense Bank.

This is stated in the press release of ABH Holdings S.A.

ABH Holdings S.A. has filed a request for arbitration and a statement of claim against Ukraine with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a part of the World Bank Group. The company's claim is based on the Treaty between the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union and the Government of Ukraine on the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments.

ABH Holdings S.A. calls Ukraine's actions to nationalise Sense Bank arbitrary, disproportionate, unreasonable and discriminatory.

"By combining methods of corporate raiding and war profiteering, the Ukrainian authorities have unlawfully taken the Bank from its rightful owners, beneficiaries, and shareholders, including UniCredit Bank and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research," the company said.

Sense Bank, formerly known as Alfa-Bank Ukraine, was owned by ABH Ukraine Limited, registered in Cyprus, and ABH Holdings S.A. in Luxembourg. These companies are linked to the sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Andrei Kosogov.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU imposed sanctions on Russian oligarchs because of their links to Putin. Ukraine also imposed sanctions on the bank's owners.

On July 20, 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine withdrew Sense Bank from the market. At that time, the financial institution operated about 130 branches and served more than 3 million individuals, 55,000 legal entities and 82,000 individual entrepreneurs.

On July 21, the Ukrainian government nationalised the bank. The next day, Sense Bank became state-owned.