European Banks Eye Ukraine

The National Bank of Ukraine allowed France’s BNP Paribas S.A. bank to open a representative office in Ukraine. Another large European bank,Commerzbank, announced its intentions to increase its presence in Ukraine. Commerzbank services over 20% of the foreign trade agreements between Ukraine and Germany. Concorde Capital: The Ukrainian banking sector is becoming an object of great attention for numerous foreign banking institutions. In addition to opening its own branches in Ukraine, foreign banks have demonstrated interest in acquiring local banks. In 2004, Azhio became a member of the SEB group (Sweden) and Transbank, which was sold to Kazakhstan’s TuranAlem Bank. This year, two large Ukrainian banks, Aval and Ukrsotsbank, will most probably change their owners. Raiffeisen Group and ABN Amro consider buying Aval and Russian Alfa group is the most probable buyer for Ukrsotsbank.