Ukrainian central bank refuses to reinstate Getin Holding's voting rights at Idea Bank

MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has refused a request from Getin Holding S.A. to give the Polish company another year to rectify violations and reinstate its rights to vote with 100% of shares in Lvov-based Idea Bank, Ukrainian media reported, citing a Getin filing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on Monday.

The NBU confirmed that the temporary suspension of the right to vote Idea Bank's shares until the rectification of violations remains in force and that the trust manager the NBU appointed, Jacek Piechota will continue to exercise his rights in accordance with the NBU decision.

The NBU also refused to reinstate Getin Holding principal owner Leszek Czarnecki's right to vote with 44.98% of shares in the Ukrainian bank. The NBU said that it has the right to initiate further oversight action against Getin and Czarnecki.

Getin Holding's management board is analyzing the legal consequences and possible lawsuits to protect its investment in Idea Bank in line with current legislation, the company said. The subject of the analysis is the influence on the issuer's position on both an individual and consolidated basis, the company said.

The NBU suspended Getin Holding's right to vote with 100% of shares in Idea Bank in March 2023 after finding fault with the business reputation of the financial group and its principal owner Czarnecki for unspecified reasons. The NBU set a one-year deadline for violations to be rectified and appointed the head of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, Jacek Piechota as trust manager.

Getin Holding tried to sell 100% of shares in Idea Bank twice, but the deal fell through both times. After the second failed attempt, when it came close to selling Idea Bank to Rinat Akhmetov's First Ukrainian International Bank in early 2022, Getin abandoned plans to sell the Ukrainian lender.

Idea Bank, formerly known as Plus Bank, was founded in 1989 and ranked 26th by assets among Ukraine's 63 operating banks at the beginning of February 2024, NBU data showed.