Foreign investors have shown interest in acquiring two state-owned Ukrainian banks, Ukrgasbank and Sense Bank, Deputy Finance Minister Yurii Drahanchuk said, Ukrainska Pravda reported on January 24.

Both financial institutions ranked among Ukraine's top ten most profitable banks in 2023. Ukrgasbank, established in 1993, operates as a commercial bank in Ukraine. Sense Bank, previously a Ukrainian subsidiary of Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman's Alfa-Bank, was nationalised in the summer of 2023 following sanctions against its owner.

"We are actively preparing them for sale. We received these signals at the end of last year, starting in the fall," Drahanchuk stated.

Prospective investors are urging Ukraine to expedite the sale process, and the banks are getting ready for the acquisition, according to Drahanchuk. Concurrently, the Finance Ministry and the World Bank are collaborating on legal revisions to ensure the sale's transparency.

Drahanchuk disclosed Ukraine's intention to sell the two banks within the year.

He noted that while the state aims to diminish its role in the banking sector, it is not yet poised to divest PrivatBank, the country's largest bank, which contributes approximately $1bn to the state budget.

In November, Ukraine's Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the legality of PrivatBank's nationalisation, a ruling that overturned previous lower court decisions and barred its former owners from reclaiming it. This verdict concluded a legal battle that had persisted since 2017.

PrivatBank, formerly under the ownership of oligarchs Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadii Boholiubov, was declared insolvent by Ukraine's National Bank due to significant capital losses and was subsequently nationalised in 2016.

Earlier in January, ABH Holdings S.A. (ABHH) banking group, predominantly owned by Mikhail Fridman, announced it had initiated an arbitration process and filed a claim exceeding $1bn against Ukraine for the nationalisation of Sense Bank.