The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has allowed the state-owned Ukrposhta to buy Alpari Bank.
“The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine granted Ukrposhta permission to acquire Alpari Bank. In conditions when many bank branches are closed, there is no connection in many places, and only Ukrposhta operates there, it is very important that modern banking services appear there. And Ukrposhta” he will definitely do it,” CEO of Ukrposhta Igor Smelyansky wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday.
He also said that this decision would save the country up to UAH 10 billion in three to four years.
“We thank the Antimonopoly Committee for the positive decision, we thank those who supported us, and we are preparing the last step – the decision of the NBU,” Smelyansky said.
As reported, in 2021, Ukrposhta submitted documents to agree on a deal to buy Alpari Bank from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine.
According to the NBU, as of January 1, 2022, the sole shareholder of Alpari Bank was a UAE citizen Bakhtari Hedayat-Allah Musa. According to the central bank, as of March 1, 2022, the bank is solvent and has assets in the amount of UAH 221.9 million.
