European digital-first banking group Iute Group plans to enter the Ukrainian market by launching a bank under the IuteBank brand with a focus on digital banking services for everyday financial needs, the company said on its website on Tuesday.
“This step is aimed at supporting our long-term goal of expanding digital banking services in a disciplined and responsible manner,” said Iute Group CEO Tarmo Sild.
According to the announcement, the market entry involves an agreement with the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) after approval by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
Under the agreement, Iute Group plans to acquire PJSC “Transitional Bank ”Iute Bank” with a banking license, to which a selective portfolio of low-risk assets and corresponding retail deposit liabilities totaling approximately EUR4 million were transferred from the insolvent RVS Bank.
The expected price of the transaction will be EUR120 thousand, with financing planned from the group’s available liquidity. Iute Group also reported that it expects the net loss of Ukrainian banking operations in 2026 not to exceed EUR3 million.
Upon completion of the transaction, the Ukrainian banking structure is to become the successor to the selected assets and deposit liabilities of RVS Bank. The assets to be transferred mainly include government bonds and cash, while the loan portfolio and related credit risks are not planned to be transferred.
The company expects that around 13,000 retail customers will be transferred as part of the deal, along with their accounts and deposits, but without the branch network.
The bank’s CEO will be Artur Muravitsky, who has over 22 years of experience in the financial sector and previously held the position of deputy chairman of the board of TAScombank and management positions at Ukrposhta, Finance Bank, and VTB Bank in Ukraine.
According to Iute Group, the initial steps after the deal is done will include capitalizing the bank, putting together a key team, and getting ready to launch digital banking services.
As reported, in December, the Deposit Guarantee Fund announced a competition for the best proposal to settle RVS Bank, which the National Bank had declared insolvent. As part of this procedure, the transitional bank Iute Bank was created, headed by Muravitsky.
According to the NBU, as of November 1, 2025, RVS Bank ranked 53rd (UAH 819.8 million) among 60 solvent banks in terms of assets.
According to information on the Iute Group website, it was founded in 2008 by Sild and Allar Niinepuu and is currently a technology-oriented financial services provider serving over 970,000 customers in the Balkans, as well as being present in the Moldovan market since 2008. The group is headquartered in Tallinn, has over 800 employees and more than 50 branches.
Iute Group expanded through several non-bank financial institutions to Albania in April 2015, North Macedonia in September 2017, and Bulgaria in February 2019, and in 2022 acquired a 95% controlling stake in Moldova’s Energbank.
Iute Group provides lending, payment, currency exchange, and insurance brokerage services.
Prime Minister Denis Shmygal discussed with Robert Gabek, Vice Chancellor, Minister of Economy and Climate Protection of Germany and representatives of German companies the necessary mechanisms to expand production and presence at the Ukrainian market.
“First of all, we are talking about the insurance of military risks for business, which will help to activate economic activity in Ukraine. We already have a pilot project with MIGA and the first projects with the American company DFC. We are working on finding a similar instrument with Germany, “- wrote Shmygal in his Telegram-channel.
Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine has potential in the areas of critical raw materials, processing and military-tech, which can bring many advantages and prospects for business.
“We also count on the support, the participation of Germany and German companies in the post-war reconstruction of our state,” summed up Shmygal.
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You will find the most relevant programme for the industry developed via an in-depth market research of the target audience, a unique international approach and a mix of the most engaging formats, one-to-one meetings with regualtors and top managers from the leading pharmaceutical production and distribution companies and pharmacy chains, the chance to win an award in the competition for the Ukrainian Pharma Inspiration Awards and new promotion opportunities!
Conference in numbers:
– 150+ participants from regulatory authorities, leading international and local pharmaceutical production and distribution companies, pharmacy chains and service providers to the pharmaceutical sector.
– 60+ speakers from regulatory authorities, leading pharmaceutical production and distribution companies and pharmacy chains.
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The speakers of the conference, organized by the Global Pharmaceutical Leaders’ Club, will be not only representatives of the Ukrainian regulatory authorities, leading international and local pharmaceutical production and distribution companies, pharmacy chains, healthcare institutions and patient organisations but also international experts. The global experience gained by other countries will be especially useful given the numerous reforms carried out in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market.
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Global Pharmaceutical Leaders’ Club develops the programmes of its events in accordance with the needs of the target audience building industry understanding on the extensive market research.
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150+ representatives of regulatory authorities, pharmaceutical production and distribution companies and pharmacy chains will participate in the conference. The delegate conference package, in addition to the opportunity to attend programme sessions, includes access to coffee breaks, lunches and a cocktail reception in a 5* hotel atmosphere which will ensure a pleasant experience for all participants.
Key topics for discussion
• New Law on Pharmaceutical Drugs – how will we work in the new reality?
• The regulatory framework of the pharmaceutical market in Ukraine – integration of international approaches and move towards the EU market
• Plans on restructuring of the state authorities involved in the regulation and control of the pharmaceutical market
• Electronic prescription as a driving force of changes in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market
• Health Technology Assessment: pharmaceutical drugs assessment procedure, criteria for assessing innovative and generic medicines, challenges
• Plans to introduce of a Positive Pharmaceutical Drug List and combine various essentials medicines lists
• Public procurement of medicines at the national and local levels: changes in approaches, financing and opportunities for development
• Reimbursement system: terms of programme implementation, funding, covered patient groups
• Pharmaceutical drugs registration and quality control in Ukraine: changes in approaches, simplified registration procedures, fast track registration procedures, opportunities for introducing recognition of GMP inspection results from countries with strict regulatory requirements, pharmacovigilance development, plans for introducing e-submissions
• Approaches to pricing in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market
• Ensuring access to innovative drugs for the patients in Ukraine: implementing pilot projects to introduce managed access contracts
• Parallel import legalisation: plans to introduce legislative changes and market threats
• Protection of intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical drugs in Ukraine
• Pharmaceutical drugs sales in Ukraine: how to work in the situation when a few distributors and pharmacy chains have control over the significant market share
• E-commerce development: should we expect significant market changes?
• Pharmaceutical drugs promotion in a new reality: databases development, face-to-face vs virtual medical representatives’ visits and their competencies development, digital tools, ecosystems development, content materials development, legal aspects of promoting drugs in the digital environment
• Omnichannel marketing: how to improve the effectiveness of utilizing digital tools
• Plans to introduce a ban on pharmaceutical drugs TV advertising: is their implementation realistics and how pharmaceutical companies can prepare for possible changes
• M&A in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market
With this invitation via Interfax Ukraine you are entitled to a 10% discount.
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Global Pharmaceutical Leaders’ Club also invites pharmaceutical production and distribution companies and pharmacy chains to participate in the contest for the Ukrainian Pharma Inspiration Awards. Applications are accepted in 15 nominations until April 20, 2022. The winners will be announced at the International Conference “Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Market”. Details are here: https://pharmaukraine.events/ukrainian-pharma-inspiration-awards/?partner=9
We look forward to seeing you in May, offline or online! If you have any questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.
If you have any enquiries or suggestions do not hesitate to contact Anna Kuzminskaya: +380 63 7673207, anna.k@iventu.co.uk
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The Turkish state-owned Ziraat Bank (Ziraat Bankası) has discussed the possibility of entering the Ukrainian market by the bank with UkraineInvest, the Ukrainian government’s investment promotion office, UkraineInvest’s press service has reported.
“The UkraineInvest team met with representatives of Ziraat Bank of the Republic of Turkey, who are considering the possibility of the bank entering the Ukrainian market. During the meeting, the participants discussed the investment climate in Ukraine and further steps of organizational and advisory support from UkraineInvest for the investment intentions of Ziraat Bank,” the press service said.
Ziraat Bank is one of the largest banks in the Republic of Turkey, founded in 1863. The bank operates in 115 locations in 17 countries around the world. The main financial services of the bank are the issue of corporate and retail loans, foreign trade and investment financing, structured finance, international transfers and treasury operations.
Schwarz Group is entering the Ukrainian market and will develop the Lidl food retail chain, the German edition Lebensmittel Zeitung reported, citing an internal letter from the company.
As follows from the internal letter from Schwarz, 47-year-old Adam Miszczyszyn will deal with Lidl’s entering Ukraine. The document on his appointment as Country Manager for Lidl in Ukraine was signed by Lidl CEO Gerd Chrzanowski and Procurement Director Tim Bork.
Schwarz Group, with 500,000 employees, is one of the world’s leading retail companies.
The company is headquartered in Neckarsulm, Germany. The main food retail brands are Lidl and Kaufland. The group also includes food production Schwarz Produktion and waste disposal, sorting and recycling company PreZero.
According to the official website of the company, it operates 12,900 stores in 33 countries, with revenues in 2020 of EUR125.3 billion, which is 9.6% higher than in 2019. Kaufland increased store sales by 7.5%, to EUR 25.5 billion, Lidl increased sales by 9.9%, to EUR96.3 billion, PreZero grew by 33.7% in 2020 and brought in about EUR 700 million from waste treatment.
DEVELOP, FOOD, LIDL, RETAIL CHAIN, SCHWARZ, UKRAINIAN MARKET
Some 13 participants of the nonbank market were removed in August of this year from the registers: two financial companies, seven insurers (one insurance company left the market voluntarily, six – forcibly), one pawnshop, two credit unions and one leasing company, according to the website of the regulator.
Some 153 non-life insurers (there were 160) and 17 life insurers, 286 pawnshops (there were 287), 301 credit unions (there were 303), 138 leasing companies (there were 137), 977 financial companies (was 973) and 61 insurance brokers are operating on the nonbank market now.
The NBU said that in general, in August, the number of participants in the nonbank financial market decreased from 1,938 (as of July 31) to 1,933 (as of August 31). The number of banks decreased from 73 to 72, since in August OJSC Settlement Center ceased its banking activities.
The regulator also said that in August, the NBU registered eight new players in the nonbank financial market: six financial companies and two leasing companies.
Some 37 payment systems created by residents and 14 international payment systems created by nonresidents operate on the payment market. In August, the registration of the Khazri international payment system, created by nonresidents, was canceled.
The National Bank received 604 requests from market participants for registration and licensing actions in August. The largest number of inquiries related to financial companies, pawnshops and lessors – 490. The number of inquiries from credit institutions (banks and credit unions) was 32, insurers – 82.
During the reporting period, the National Bank continued to apply enforcement measures to participants in the nonbank financial market. In particular, the regulator, on its own initiative, canceled all licenses for 45 institutions: 28 financial companies, one insurance company, 13 pawnshops and three leasing companies. Also in August, the NBU temporarily suspended the licenses of six insurance companies for violations committed by them.
