Alfa-Bank Ukraine trustee coordinates all of his management decisions with NBU

MOSCOW. June 7 (Interfax) - Former Bulgarian Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, who was given the right to vote in the majority stake of Alfa-Bank Ukraine (Kyiv) with the National Bank of Ukraine's (NBU) consent in mid-April, told Ukrainian journalists that he has to coordinate every major step with the NBU.

"On the part of the National Bank... it was agreed that I work for the benefit of the bank, and not for the benefit of the shareholders. So, if there are decisions that they [shareholders] did not agree to or do, I do not care. I need to coordinate each big step with the National Bank," Djankov said.

Djankov said that he does not have any agreements with the shareholders, and he received an offer to become a trustee from head of the bank's supervisory board Roman Shpek, whom he had known since his diplomatic tenure in Brussels and with whom he had worked together within a large number of international projects.

The former Bulgarian minister said that he accepted the offer, as it is impossible to stand aside from what is happening in Ukraine, and, besides, he has a track-record of working in crisis-stricken economies.

"I have no points of intersection with the shareholders whose shares I manage. I do not have a joint business or other common interests and never had," he said.

Djankov said that, in accordance with the NBU's resolution, he was appointed to this post for a six-month term, which can be extended. Presently, Djankov has an autonomous voting right on the shareholders' stakes and coordinates all his management decisions with the NBU.

"My goal is to adopt a long-term strategy for the bank and to create favorable conditions for the bank to participate in the economic recovery. Regarding payment, the bank pays for my work. Payment from the shareholders is unacceptable and would create a conflict of interest," he said.

The bank's supervisory board itself is looking for its new members to replace Russian citizens or persons affiliated with them who have left it, but the new members are being approved by the NBU, he said, adding that this process is already underway but will require more time.

The largest shareholders of Alfa-Bank Ukraine currently include Andrey Kosogov, who owns a 40.9614% stake in the bank through a proxy after receiving the 20.9659% and 16.3239% stakes from sanctioned German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev. Mikhail Fridman's stake is at 32.8632%, Petr Aven's at 12.4018%, UniCredit S.p.A. (Italy) has 9.9%, and Mark Foundation for Cancer Research has 3.9%. Djankov is the NBU's trustee managing Kosogov's stake and the shares of blacklisted Fridman and Aven.

According to NBU data, Alfa-Bank Ukraine was Ukraine's fifth largest bank (123.770 billion hryvni) by total assets as of March 1, 2022, out of the 69 banks that operate in Ukraine.