Poland's Getin Holding gives up trying to sell Ukraine's Idea Bank

MOSCOW. Aug 29 (Interfax) - Poland's Getin Holding S.A. has given up plans to sell its Ukrainian subsidiary Idea Bank after the termination of a conditional agreement to sell 100% of the Lviv-based lender to First Ukrainian International Bank.

Due to the geopolitical situation in Ukraine and the inability to sell Idea Bank, the plan to sell it was cancelled and the Ukrainian lender's assets and liabilities are no longer classified as held for sale, Getin said in its half-year report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

The situation in Ukraine is affecting the prospects of the group's business, Getin said. The group recognized an impairment loss on Ukrainian assets in the amount of PLN230.58 million (about $48.5 million at the current exchange rate). In addition to Idea Bank, Getin owns Kyiv-based New Finance Service LLC.

The group reported a net loss for banking services in Ukraine of PLN208.32 million in the first half of 2022 due to the write-off and provisions in the amount of PLN302.31 million, compared to a net profit of PLN44.48 million in the first half of 2021.

Idea Bank's assets shrank to PLN595.2 million from PLN912.95 million at the beginning of 2022, although its capital adequacy ratio rose to 17.43% from 14.9%.

Getin Holding said at the end of February 2022 that it had failed to sell Idea Bank for the second time. A conditional agreement on the terms of the sale of 100% of Ideal Bank to Rinat Akhmetov's First Ukrainian International Bank signed on November 10, 2021 was terminated due to the nonfulfillment of all conditions for the transfer of ownership rights by the deadline of February 25.

In June 2020, a deal to sell Idea Bank to a private investor and Ukrainian investment firm Dragon Capital was called off after the parties could not agree on the commercial terms by the set deadline. Dragon Capital later bought Unex Bank from Vadim Novinsky's Smart Holding.

Idea Bank (formerly Plus Bank), which was founded in 1989, posted a net profit of UAH581.07 million in 2021. The lender ranked 31st by assets among Ukraine's 68 operating banks as of July 1, 2022, data from the National Bank of Ukraine showed.