UniCredit denies rumors of withdrawal from Ukraine
2013-01-16 10:05:52
One of the largest European banking groups, UniCredit, will continue to work at the Ukrainian market.
This was announced on Tuesday by the head of the UniCredit banking business in Central and Eastern Europe, Gianni Franco Papa, Reuters reported.
"We are in Ukraine and want to stay in Ukraine," the banker said, refuting rumors that the Italian lender could quit Ukraine.
On the Ukrainian market UniCredit Group is represented by two institutions - Ukrsotsbank (sixth in terms of assets, the purchase of which in 2008 cost about $2 billion) and UniCredit (34th in terms of assets).
Because of the debt crisis in the euro zone and unrealistic expectations of a quick recovery of the Ukrainian economy after the crisis of 2008-2009, a number of European banks in the past year reduced their business in Ukraine. In particular, Germany's Commerzbank sold the bank Forum, the Austrian Erste announced the sale of its Ukrainian subsidiary bearing the same name, Sweden's SEB and Swedbank sold retail businesses, focusing on corporate customers.
Against this background, the media citing unnamed sources released information that Ukrsotsbank began negotiating the sale of its retail business and individuals' loan portfolio.
In December last year, UniCredit, presented in a number of countries of the former Soviet Union, said it would sell - at a price lower than the purchase price - its ATF Bank in Kazakhstan.