Ex-owners of Sens Bank, now withdrawn from market, wanted to drive it to bankruptcy
The former Russian owners of one of the largest banks in Ukraine had planned to withdraw assets and drive it into bankruptcy, law enforcement said on Monday.
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In separate statements, the prosecutor general’s office and the security service of Ukraine, SBU, said the investigation was underway regarding “a systemically important bank that has been withdrawn from the market for further transfer to the state”.
While they do not name the institution, there is only one bank that falls under the description – Sense Bank, which has been owned by the finance ministry since 22 July.
A source in law enforcement confirmed to LIGA.net that it was Sense Bank.
"[The former owners] planned to re-register their share in the management of the financial institution to controlled persons. And on behalf of the ‘new’ beneficiaries, they planned to withdraw billions of dollars of capital from Ukraine,” the prosecutor general’s office said in a statement.
“In the future, to hide the traces of the transaction, the Russian owners planned to bring the bank to artificial bankruptcy, which would pose a threat to the stable operation of the state's banking system.”
Searches were conducted at the bank’s head office and at the residences of top managers, where, according to law enforcement agencies, “evidence of illegal activity” was found.
The investigation suggests the money withdrawn from the bank could have ended up in Russia, where its former owners are engaged in business in the insurance, telecommunications, and trade sectors.
From 2001 to 2022, Sens Bank operated under the Russian brand Alfa-Bank. After the outbreak of the full-scale war, it changed its name but remained owned by Russian oligarchs Andrey Kosogov, Mikhail Fridman, and Pyotr Aven.
On 20 July, the National Bank of Ukraine decided to withdraw Sense Bank from the market due to sanctions against its owners and proposed that the government nationalise it.
The next day, the Ukrainian government agreed to buy the bank out for the symbolic price of UAH 1.
