The state’s share in Ukraine’s banking system is already very large, and the International Monetary Fund is against its increase, Deputy Economy Minister Serhiy Sobolev said at the presentation of Transparency International Ukraine and Ukrainska Pravda’s project – an online platform “How to confiscate Russian assets in Ukraine?” in Kiev this week.
“The IMF is very much against increasing this share – even fundamentally, even by 0.5% – there are such discussions that it prevents private banking business from developing: simply because of such dynamics, it is more difficult to compete with the state, because the state is everywhere,” Sobolev said.
He noted that the National Bank of Ukraine is responsible for the banking sector in the country, but the Ministry of Economy is responsible for competition and private market growth.
“There is no queue of people who want to buy these (nationalized) banks now, but there is a demand for banking assets. So there needs to be some kind of mechanism to quickly bring these banks back into the private market. By shares or as a whole – it’s not so important,” said the Deputy Minister of Economy.
According to his feelings, Sence Bank (formerly Alfa Bank) is not the last bank that can be nationalized.
“We have Russian property or property of persons who help Russia wage a war of aggression, and in other banks. And it is our joint task how to build so the process so that they quickly go back into business and do not linger in the state”, – said Sobolev.
In an interview with Economic Pravda this week, First Deputy Governor of the National Bank Kateryna Rozhkova said, referring to the prospects for nationalization of Sence Bank, that the NBU is in favor of reducing the state’s share in the banking sector, “but the issue of financial stability is more important.
She confirmed that a potential buyer of Sence Bank had sent documents to the NBU three times in May and June, but that they contained flaws. “But even if there were no flaws, it is impossible to give consent to such an operation, because then we will also be participants in the mechanism of circumventing sanctions,” Rozhkova emphasized.
She pointed out that the NBU will implement the law on nationalization of Sence Bank when it is ready for it.
The first Deputy head of the National Bank also said that the regulator is still an opponent of the entry into the banking market “Ukrposhta”.
“First, we believe that everyone should be engaged in their own business, in particular, “Ukrposhta”. Secondly, the state’s share in the banking sector already exceeds 50%. Its increase is contrary to common sense”, – argued Rozhkova. She added that such an increase “absolutely contradicts the commitments and agreements with international partners, “this is a red line for them”.
According to Rozhkova, the only contender for the transfer of Ukrposhta today is PINBank of Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Giner, against which the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court has ruled in favor of the state. However, according to the first deputy head of the NBU, PINBank is not systemically important and can be liquidated without negative consequences for the economy. “The bank’s property can be sold, and the funds can be allocated in favor of the state. This is the optimal way,” she said.
Currently, four state-owned banks – Privat, Oschad, Ukrexim and Ukrgas – are among the top five largest on the market in terms of assets. Their combined share of assets amounted to 52.9% at the end of April, and in absolute terms – UAH 1.511 trillion.
In addition, Sense Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank), which is among the systemic banks with a 3.4% share of assets, may be nationalized in the near future. The law adopted in autumn, which allowed its nationalization, did not work, as the bank remains financially stable. Therefore, at the end of May, a new law was adopted, which allows such nationalization due to the imposition of sanctions on its shareholders. The bank’s ultimate beneficiaries Mikhail Fridman – 32.8632%, Pyotr Aven – 12.4018% and Andrei Kosogov – 40.9614% were under sanctions earlier, while the bank’s direct shareholders ABH Holdings SA and ABH Ukraine Limited were included in the sanctions list only this week.
In turn, ABH Holdings says it has reached an agreement to sell a 75.6% stake in Sense Bank to an international investor for $1. ABH Holdings considers keeping the bank in private ownership the best option, and threatens Ukraine with a lawsuit in case of nationalization.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/TransparencyInternationalUkraine/videos/1235114310511662,
https://www.epravda.com.ua/publications/2023/07/12/702125/
