Bloomberg learned about the intentions to nationalize the former Alfa-Bank Ukraine

Agency Bloomberg citing its own sources, reported that in mid-July, the Ukrainian authorities plan to nationalize Sense Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank Ukraine), whose beneficiaries are Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Andrey Kosogov.

Preparations for the nationalization of Alfa-Bank Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian edition of Strana, began back in 2022, when the bank received a new name – Sense Bank. The existing norms of the law for nationalization were not enough – the credit institution did not violate the standards introduced by the National Bank. In this regard, the Ukrainian parliamentarians had to develop And accept special bill.

A Bloomberg interlocutor close to the owners of Sense Bank said that the management of the organization would challenge any nationalization, including in international courts, in order to protect investments and reduce losses.

On July 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced sanctions against ABH Holdings SA and ABH Ukraine Limited registered in Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, which own 100% of the shares of Sense Bank.

Earlier it was reported that the Polish Grupa Polsat Plus, owned by Poland’s richest businessman Zygmunt Solozh, became interested in the former Alfa-Bank Ukraine. However, the nationalization of Sense Bank, which is being prepared by the Ukrainian authorities, won’t allow Russian shareholders to sell him a bank.

Sense Bank is one of the systemically important Ukrainian banks, it ranks 11th in the country in terms of assets. In the event of its nationalization, the National Bank of Ukraine (the country’s financial regulator) will control all the bank’s operations.

Alexander Kislov