International sanctions on Russia's Alfa-Bank won't affect its Ukrainian sister company - National Bank of Ukraine

KYIV. April 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The international sanctions on Russia's Alfa-Bank will not affect its Ukrainian sister company, Alfa-Bank Ukraine based in Kyiv, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said with reference to the United States Department of the Treasury's statement on a new package of sanctions on Russia, including Russia's Alfa-Bank.

The sanctions against the Alfa-Bank Ukraine owners, as well as the international sanctions on Russian banks, do not impose additional restrictions on the bank's operations in Ukraine, it said on Thursday.

Alfa-Bank accounts for over 6% on the market of private deposits and holds and services a significant share of the financial sector's infrastructure (691 ATMs, nearly 17,000 POS terminals, and 201 retail outlets), whose proper functioning is currently critical for Ukraine's financial stability, the NBU said.

As reported earlier, the NBU in March deprived Alfa-Bank shareholders Mikhail Fridman (32.86%), German Khan (20.97%), Alexei Kuzmichev (16.32%), and Pyotr Aven of voting rights in the Ukrainian bank. Alfa-Bank said on March 2 that it was in negotiations on transferring their shares with major Polish and Ukrainian companies and private investors.

Alfa-Bank Ukraine is one of the largest Ukrainian private banks (6,500 employees, 1.5 million customers) with international capital. Its shareholders are ABH Ukraine Limited and ABH Holdings, which also incorporates the Russian bank with the same name, also subjected to sanctions.

In addition to the abovementioned stakeholders, Alfa-Bank Ukraine also lists among its shareholders UniCredit S.p.A. (Italy) with 9.9%, Mark Foundation for Cancer Research with 3,8736%, and Andrei Kosogov with 3.6716%.

According to the NBU, Alfa-Bank Ukraine was the 6th largest of the 69 banks operating in the country in terms of its general assets (123.774 billion hryvni) as of March 1, 2022.

Russia's Alfa-Bank said in March that Andrei Kosogov became its largest shareholder owning 41%. As of March 16, 2022, the bank's main shareholders through the Luxemburg-registered ABH Holdings were Kosogov (41%, previously owned 3.7%), Fridman (32.9%), Aven (12.4%), UniCredit S.p.A. (9.9%), and Mark Foundation for Cancer Research (3.9%).

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