VAB Bank postpones its EGM to consider a capital increase

VAB Bank’s EGM, scheduled for Nov. 17, failed to convene for technical reasons, a bank representative told Concorde Capital on Nov. 20. A new meeting might be announced later, according to the bank. Shareholders were planning to consider an up to UAH 7 bln capital increase at the meeting. A month ago, the bank’s majority shareholder Oleg Bakhmatyuk declared his willingness to contribute up to UAH 3.0 bln into VAB equity, if the central bank agreed to participate in VAB’s capital increase. The bank’s CAR (under NBU standards) stood at 10.7% as of end-September, or marginally above the 10% minimum.

Alexander Paraschiy: Clearly, the postponement of the EGM is a negative development for the bondholders of VAB Bank – it signals that there is no clear solution on how shareholders are going to help the bank, which is definitely not in the best shape right now.

In and of itself, the decision to increase VAB Bank’s capital, which should have been made at the postponed EGM, wouldn’t have guaranteed the bank’s recapitalization. The last time an EGM decided to increase the bank’s equity (by UAH 1 bln in November 2013), eight months passed until the shareholders made their contribution (in July 2014).