National Bank of Ukraine bans ABH and ABH Ukraine from access to Sense Bank shares
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Ukraine banned shareholders of the Ukrainian Sense Bank (former Alfa-Bank), ABH Holdings S.A. (share 57.6006%) and its subsidiary ABH Ukraine Limited (42.3994%) from using their right to vote due to their unsatisfactory business reputation, Ukrainian media reported, citing the NBU.
"The National Bank recognizes the faulty business reputations of the shareholders of Sense Bank, ABH Holdings and ABH Ukraine Limited (. . .) In accordance with the National Bank's decisions, a temporary ban is in place on the use of voting rights for 287 billion 262 million 475 thousand 484 ordinary registered shares of the bank, which make up 100% of its charter capital," the NBU said in a statement.
The basis for recognizing the business reputation of ABH Holdings as less than impeccable was its participation in Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V. (Netherlands), which was declared bankrupt on April 22, 2022, as well as signs of the questionable reputations of beneficiaries Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Andrey Kosogov, who are under sanctions.
The minority shareholders in ABH Holdings S.A. are Unicredit S.p.a. with 9.9% and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research with 3.8736%.
The National Bank additionally pointed out certain signs of unsatisfactory financial condition with regard to ABH Ukraine.
Sense Bank announced the signing on March 3 of a memorandum with potential investors from Poland who are interested in entering the Ukrainian market and sending their letters to the leadership of the NBU. Possible ways for an investor to enter include participation in an additional issue of bank shares, or the purchase of shares from non-sanctioned direct shareholders. However, the current ban on 100% of the vote will probably not allow this to happen in practice.
The NBU previously confirmed the receipt of a letter from a potential investor, and also indicated that, given the EU sanctions imposed on Fridman and Aven, and the Ukrainian sanctions applied to Fridman, Aven and Kosogov, all these persons are deprived of the right to dispose of their own assets and are totally alienated from them before sanctions are withdrawn.
As reported, in April 2022, the NBU appointed Simeon Dyankov as the trustee who was given the right to vote on shares indirectly owned by sub-sanctioned owners with significant participation in Sense Bank (88.2264% in total), as well as the right to participate in the management of the bank.
According to the NBU, as of February 1, 2023, Sense Bank ranked 9th in total assets among 67 banks operating in the country.