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The Supreme Court recovered more than 2,7 million hryvnias in interest from Inzhur founder Zhurzhiy on a loan
The Supreme Court finally confirmed the decision to recover from the founder of the investment company Inzhur, former MP Andriy Zhurzhiy, more than 2,7 million hryvnias in interest under a loan agreement.
Zhurzhiy’s company is known for large transactions in the real estate market — in particular, Inzhur will acquire a shopping mall for 36 million dollars, while the fund’s founder himself turned out to be a debtor in a private case that lasted more than two years.
According to the case materials, on 18 August 2022 the parties concluded a loan agreement. Under its terms, Andriy Zhurzhiy received from Valeriy Heorhiyovych Kulyk 20,37 million hryvnias, which at the time of signing equaled 500 thousand dollars. The debtor was to repay the funds by 28 February 2023.
The lender claimed that the funds were not repaid within the contractual term. At first he sent the debtor a demand dated 1 March 2023, and after being refused — a formal claim dated 31 March. In fact, the debtor repaid the loan amount only on 20 July 2023, but without paying any interest for use of the funds.
The plaintiff insisted that the agreement did not contain a provision making it interest-free, and therefore demanded that interest be calculated for the period from 19 August 2022 to 28 February 2023 at the NBU rate of 25% per annum. The amount claimed was 2,7 million hryvnias.
How the courts reviewed the case three times
The Solomianskyi District Court on 28 November 2024 refused the claim, referring to a provision of the Civil Code that relieves debtors from paying interest during the period of martial law. By the same decision, the court additionally ordered the plaintiff to pay the defendant 40 thousand hryvnias in legal costs for an attorney.
However, the Kyiv Court of Appeal on 13 May 2025 overturned that decision and granted the claim in full. The appellate instance noted that the provision exempting from liability for delay concerns penalties and fines, not interest for lawful use of a loan, which are governed by a separate article of the Civil Code. The court recovered 2,7 million hryvnias in interest from the debtor in favor of the lender.
The debtor’s representative appealed the appellate court’s ruling to the cassation instance, insisting that the loan was effectively provided in dollars, and therefore the rules on calculating interest in hryvnias could not be applied. The defense even requested that the case be referred to the enlarged chamber of the Supreme Court to review prior practice.
The panel of judges of the Cassation Civil Court rejected all of the defense’s arguments and refused to refer the case to the enlarged chamber. The Supreme Court found that the contract terms did not contain an explicit indication that it was gratuitous, and therefore the lender was entitled to receive interest.
Why the debtor’s position did not work
The key argument was that, despite linking the sum to the dollar exchange rate, the contract explicitly stipulated the issuance and repayment of funds in cash hryvnias. This distinguished the case from precedents cited by the debtor’s defense, where the currency of lending was indeed dollars, not hryvnias with a dollar equivalent.
The court also recalled the presumption that a loan agreement is repayable: if the text does not explicitly state that the loan is interest-free, the creditor has the right to demand interest at the NBU’s discount rate. This rule applies regardless of whether the interest is detailed in the agreement itself.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Верховний Суд стягнув із засновника Inzhur Журжія понад 2,7 мільйона гривень процентів за позикою". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
