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The NBU is withdrawing Sense Bank, which is owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs, from the market. They want to nationalize it

Author:
Kostia Andreikovets
Date:

The National Bank of Ukraine withdrew from the market Sens Bank (formerly Alfa Bank Ukraine), the owners of the bank shares are sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Piotr Aven, and Andrey Kosogov.

The National Bank appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers with a request to nationalize the financial institution, which has about 130 branches in Ukraine and serves more than 3 million individuals, 55 thousand legal entities, and 82 thousand private entrepreneurs.

On the basis of the decision of the board of the National Bank of Ukraine, the Individual Deposit Guarantee Fund will introduce a temporary administration from July 21. On the same day, the government must make a decision on the purchase of the bank. Further, on the proposal of the Ministry of Finance and with the agreement of the NBU, the Cabinet of Ministers must choose a new top management of Sense Bank.

During the temporary administration, services for individuals will work as usual without additional restrictions. Payments by legal entities will also be accepted without restrictions.

The NBU reminded that the owners of direct significant participation in the bank are ABH Ukraine Limited (Cyprus) and ABH Holdings SA (Luxembourg); the owners of indirect significant share are Russian citizens Fridman, Aven and Kosogov. In 2022, they were included first in the international and later in the Ukrainian sanctions lists.

The National Bank added that sanctions against the owners of significant shares carry reputational risks for the bank. They led to the deterioration of certain indicators of the bank — the deterioration of borrowersʼ payment discipline affected the regulatory capital, which decreased by 50% in the period from March 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023.