By KYIV. Oct 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The nationalized Sense Bank should be put up for sale for further privatization as soon as the security situation in the country improves, this opinion was expressed by Head of the Department of Macroeconomic Research of ICU Group Vitaliy Vavryschuk at the discussion “The banking sector of Ukraine during the war: is it enough stability?”
“Now that Sense Bank has become state-owned, I think we have our first good goal, we have the first bank that is completely investable and can be put up for sale almost any time when the security situation improves. So, I think the sale of Sense Bank will test the resolve of the authorities to reduce the influence of the state in the banking sector,” he said.
He stressed that he is not calling for a speedy sale, but as soon as the security situation becomes clearer, then, in his opinion, “we will have no reason to postpone the privatization of Sense Bank.”
First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Kateryna Rozhkova supported the opinion of her colleague.
“I absolutely agree with Vitaliy, because Sense Bank is less state-owned than others, it is more focused on business and commerce, so it can really be the first target for sale,” says Rozhkova.
According to her, it is now quite difficult to find an interested investor.
“But I think we need to start thinking about this, because we have experience working with the IFC or the EBRD, we have a certain, let’s say, list of requirements that must be fully met before the privatization process begins,” she emphasized.
According to the first deputy head of the NBU, it is worth starting preparatory work in order to be able to sell or privatize at least one of the banks as soon as the situation allows this.
According to NBU data, as of September 1, 2023, in terms of total assets, Sense Bank ranked 11th (UAH 63.02 billion) among 64 operating banks. The financial institution is one of the country’s systemically important banks and has a network of about 130 branches throughout Ukraine, employing about 4,000 people. Sense Bank serves about 3 million individuals and 58,000 legal entities, as well as 86,000 individual entrepreneurs.
Earlier, the owner and head of the largest investment company in Ukraine, Dragon Capital, Tomas Fiala, expressed interest in purchasing Sense Bank.
