The state-owned Privatbank is planned to be privatized. The Governor of the National Bank, Kyrylo Shevchenko, stated this in an interview with the GlobalCapital, adding that the state's share in the Ukrainian banking market in five years should decrease from 55% to 25%.
«Our banking sector holds significant potential for international investors. In the near future, we hope that international banking groups will take equity in Ukrainian state-owned banks. Under our plans, PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest banking asset, will soon be put up for sale. We believe that the privatisation of the bank that holds 20% of the Ukrainian banking market will draw the interest of the most prestigious international investors, including from the US and the EU».
Kyrylo Shevchenko
Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine
Shevchenko also added that there are around 100 court processes ongoing right now with the former owners of Privatbank Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholyubov and the NBU continues to support the strategy of the financial institution. The head of the regulator also expressed the hope that by the end of 2021 the court processes would be resolved and it would be possible to focus on the recovery of assets.
In December 2016, the Ukrainian government nationalized Privatbank and invested more than 155 billion UAH in the capital of the financial institution. Making such a decision, the government referred to the proposal of the National Bank and former shareholders of the bank (in 2016, the largest were Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholyubov). The former owners have lost all their shares and consider the nationalization illegal, and the bank and the state are demanding compensation from them in the courts.
Context. Recently, Privatbank filed a complaint against the ruling of the Sixth Court of Appeal that suspended the process where Kolomoisky litigates its nationalization. The Supreme Court opened the relevant cassation proceedings.
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