DEC. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee gave permission to Kazakh businessman Kenes Rakishev to buy a majority stake in BTA Bank Ukraine, strengthening his control over Kazakhstan’s banking assets.
One day before disclosing Mr Rakishev as the mystery buyer, the Ukrainian regulator said it had given the green light to a citizen of Kazakhstan to buy the 50.007% stake in BTA Bank that Kazkommertsbank, Kazakhstan’s largest lender, didn’t already own.
Kazkommertsbank and Mr Rakishev completed the takeover of BTA Bank in Kazakhstan earlier in 2015.
This takeover deal, though, only concerned the Kazakhstan-based parent company. BTA Group also owns banks in Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Now, Mr Rakishev will control BTA’s subsidiary in Ukraine, buying it from Andryi Levkovsky, a Ukrainian businessman linked to several investment companies.
The 36-year-old Mr Rakishev is the son-in-law of Kazakhstan’s powerful defence minister Imangali Tasmagambetov and is considered a member of the country’s most inner clique of elite.
BTA Bank Ukraine’s results in the first three quarters of the year were positive. Net income grew by 30% to $119,800, making the bank a small player in Ukrainian market. The bank’s total assets amount to 2.8b hryvnia ($120m).
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)