The Verkhovna Rada adopted a bill allowing the nationalization of the former Alfa-Bank Ukraine

The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada has approved a bill on the nationalization of banks controlled by sanctioned persons. This document will allow the country’s authorities to nationalize Sense Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank Ukraine) and gain full control over this financial organization, co-owned by Russian billionaires Petr Aven, Andrei Kosogov and Mikhail Fridman.

“Finally, the Rada approved in the second reading a bill on amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine to improve the procedure for withdrawing a bank from the market under martial law. The bill allows the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to nationalize the banks of sanctioned owners,” he said in his Telegram channel deputies of the Rada from the party “Voice” Yaroslav Zheleznyak. He did not specify a timeline for the bill to come into force.

There are currently no other banks owned by sanctioned persons, apart from Sense Bank, on the Ukrainian market.

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

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

Alexander Kislov