The government has set up a commission to sell the state shareholdings in Sense Bank and Ukrgasbank.
This was reported by Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi.
He noted that representatives of international financial organisations and EU institutions may join the work of this commission.
“This commission will determine the procedure for holding tenders, make decisions on admitting participants, approve the starting price of the auction taking into account the adviser’s recommendations, the winners and the sale price, and submit the relevant decisions for government approval. The Ministry of Finance has already selected advisers for both banks,” the head of government added.
Koretskyi explained that in this way they want to create appropriate conditions for a transparent and competitive sale of the state shareholdings in both banks.
- Sense Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank) was nationalised in 2023 due to its Russian owners.
- Its main shareholders were Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and other partners from Alfa Group.
- In August this year, Koretskyi reported that the Ministry of Finance had been tasked by the government with stepping up the process of selling Sense Bank.
- In addition, the institution’s management began to feature in high-profile investigations by anti-corruption agencies. According to NABU, the bank’s chairman of the management board and chairman of the supervisory board, Oleksii Stupak and Mykola Hladyshenko, in collusion with former MP Maksym Mykytas, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra and other members of a criminal group, ensured the posting of bail of 150 million hryvnias obtained illegally for former minister Herman Halushchenko, who is a suspect in a case concerning corruption at Energoatom.
- Part of the funds were routed through Sense Bank. To move the funds, automatic financial monitoring was switched off, and it was also not carried out manually.
- On 19 August, the government suspended Hladyshenko. The Cabinet also initiated the suspension of Stupak.
- At a meeting on 21 August, the Cabinet terminated the powers of supervisory board chairman Hladyshenko.