Ukraine plans to nationalize Sense Bank, one of the country’s systemically important lenders, from its Russian owners as early as next week, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The government in Kyiv has been seeking to take over the bank from owners including Mikhail Fridman — the last prominent Russian billionaire still holed up in London — and his partner Peter Aven, both of whom have been slapped with European Union and UK sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans.
The long awaited seizure of the bank by the Ukrainian authorities is expected to take place in mid-July, according to one of the Ukrainian decision makers who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the process.
Previously known as Alfa-Bank Ukraine, Sense Bank is Ukraine’s 11th largest in terms of assets. Its nominal owner is Luxembourg-based ABH Holdings SA.
Last month, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed legislation allowing the government to declare insolvent and, if needed, nationalize lenders from owners that came under sanctions due to Russia’s invasion.
ABH Holdings SA said it will dispute any nationalization, including in international courts “in order to protect its investment and mitigate losses.”
“The new law is discriminatory and violates international law standards of fairness to investors,” it said in a statement last month. “The nationalization of JSC Sense Bank would result in losses for bondholders as well as the shareholders of ABHH.”
Ukraine’s central bank blocked an attempt by Fridman and his partners in March to gain permission to boost the lender’s equity by $1 billion and to sell the lender to a foreign buyer.
Earlier this week, Fridman’s attorneys told an EU court that his life had been “destroyed” by the sanctions. The EU says its evidence shows Fridman is a co-founder of Alfa Group, which controls Russia’s largest retailer and private bank, and has close ties to the Russian political regime.
The International Monetary Fund, in a comment following the first review of its lending program to Ukraine, said that the country should avoid “excessive interference” in the banking sector, “including the prospect of nationalization for reasons unconnected to financial stability” due to possible risks.
(Updates with IMF comment in the last paragraph.)
