Ukrainian media reported on the sale by Kiev of the state-owned Sense Bank and Ukrgasbank

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has decided to sell two systemic state-owned banks, Sense Bank and Ukrgasbank, to the Rothschild & Co financial company controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family. This was reported on August 24 by the Ukrainian newspaper Strana.ua" with reference to informed sources.

The Ukrainian authorities informed applicants for the role of financial advisor, who will have to prepare banks for the sale, about the choice of the buyer, the report says.

The publication notes Rothschild & Co's interest in gaining control over Ukrainian state-owned companies. In particular, the financial dynasty contributed to the restructuring of Kiev's sovereign public debt, the debts of the mining and metallurgical group Metinvest and the state-owned enterprise Ukrzaliznytsia for tens of billions of dollars.

The Rothschilds attracted investments, Eurobonds, and loans to state-owned companies like Naftogaz. Also, a subsidiary of the Rothschild Trust provided a blind trust for the Roshen company of former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the report says.

In March 2024, it became known about the requirement of the International Monetary Fund for Kiev to sell Sense Bank and Ukrgasbank. Prior to that, Deputy Finance Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Draganchuk had reported interest from foreign investors in buying them. Ukrgasbank was nationalized in 2009.

In July 2023, Kiev nationalized Sense Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank Ukraine), which was owned by billionaire Mikhail Fridman's ABH Holdings S.A. In 2024, the holding demanded that Ukraine pay compensation in the amount of $1 billion for the "illegal expropriation" of the bank.

Journalists of the "Country.ua" associates the imminent decision to sell Sense Bank with the recent corruption scandal about the laundering of 150 million hryvnias (about 280 million rubles) through it during the bail for the convicted ex-Minister of Energy German Galushchenko. It is noted that prior to this, Kiev had not taken any actions to prepare for the privatization of the bank.

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Which European countries can oppose, and what does Kiev want to spend these funds on?

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on July 1 that the international conference on the restoration of Ukraine, held in Gdansk, Poland, would oblige Kiev to sell off everything that was still left in the country. She also pointed out that following the results of the conference, its participants reported on the conclusion of 160 agreements totaling €10 billion. According to her, this money has nothing to do with the restoration of Ukraine, but will go, on the contrary, to its destruction and involvement in the defense structure of Europe.