Mikhail Friedman and partners filed a lawsuit against Ukraine for a billion dollars due to the nationalization of Sense Bank

Luxembourg-based ABH Holdings SA, owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Friedman and Petr Aven, has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine for more than a billion dollars over the nationalization of Sense Bank.

This is stated in the statement of ABH Holdings SA

On December 29, the holding submitted a request for arbitration and a statement of claim against Ukraine to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which is part of the World Bank group.

In the lawsuit, the holding refers to the Agreement between the Belgian-Luxembourg Economic Union and the Government of Ukraine on mutual assistance and protection of investments.

ABH Holdings SA calls Ukraineʼs actions on the nationalization of Sense Bank arbitrary, disproportionate, unfounded and discriminatory.

"Combining the methods of corporate raiding and military profiteering, the Ukrainian authorities illegally took the bank from its legitimate owners, beneficiaries and shareholders," the statement reads.

ABH Holdings calls the accusations of the Ukrainian authorities against Friedman and partners "black PR", with the help of which Ukraine took the bank "from its rightful owners".

• On July 20, 2023, the NBU announced that it was withdrawing Sense Bank from the market, and on July 21, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to nationalize it — the bankʼs shares were bought for one hryvnia. On June 22, Sense Bank became state-owned.
• Sense Bank (formerly Alfa Bank Ukraine) belonged to ABH Ukraine Limited (Cyprus) and ABH Holdings SA (Luxembourg). The owners of indirect substantial participation were Russian sanctioned oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Andrei Kosogov.
• Mikhail Fridman was born in Lviv, but became one of Russiaʼs most prominent businessmen, earning billions in banking, oil and retail. He and his Alfa Group partners Petr Aven, Alexei Kuzmichev and German Khan were sanctioned by the European Union for alleged ties to Putin shortly after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. The USA introduced sanctions against them only in August 2023. Friedman, like a number of other businessmen, tried to challenge the sanctions, arguing that he had no influence on Putinʼs policies.
• On September 5, 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine notified Russian oligarch Mykhailo Fridman of suspicion of financing Russiaʼs war in Ukraine (Part 3 of Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code), in December the SBU declared him wanted.