Serhiy Tigipko, a prominent Ukrainian businessman and politician, continues to expand his financial empire by concluding a deal to acquire a bank owned by Polish “criminals.” This deal, which took place against the backdrop of an unstable economic situation, has sparked lively discussions in financial circles and among experts.
Businessman and former National Bank Chairman Serhiy Tigipko is expanding his financial empire. The press service of his TAS group announced today, October 18, that it has concluded an agreement to purchase Idea Bank, which was owned by the Polish Getin Holding.
The report specifies that Idea's total balance sheet as of June 30, 2024 was $162 million, and the official value of the deal was $34 million - almost five times less.
In hryvnia, $34 million at the current official exchange rate is UAH 1.4 billion and 78% of Idea Bank's regulatory capital as of September 1, 2024. The bank was bought at a markdown or discount, in financial terms.
The sale of Idea Bank became a forced one for the Polish holding company. The National Bank of Ukraine insisted on it after it removed the Polish owner Leszek Czarnecki and his Getin Holding from managing the Ukrainian structure in the spring of 2023 due to a criminal case in Poland.
The reputation of the Polish owners in Ukraine was considered not impeccable and they were deprived of the right to influence the bank. This happened due to a criminal case against Czarnecki (the court even sent him to prison), initiated by Polish law enforcement agencies back in 2018 - he was accused of defrauding customers and fraud related to the GetBack financial pyramid. The security forces stated that investors were fraudulently sold GetBack bonds, and they ultimately suffered large losses.
Getin Holding has been operating in Ukraine for 17 years and bought Idea Bank back in 2007. The strength of this financial institution is retail lending: according to the National Bank, as of September 1, 2024, it was in 9th place among 62 banks in retail lending with a portfolio of UAH 4.6 billion. These are mainly card loans and cash loans. At that time, the bank served 443 thousand depositors, who held UAH 3.6 billion in its accounts - it was in 23rd place in terms of retail deposits. Idea Bank ended 8 months of 2024 with a profit of UAH 473 million and paid taxes of UAH 158 million.
For Serhiy Tigipko, Idea will be the third bank in his possession. He also owns TAScombank and Universal Bank (monobank). According to the NBU, he owns both directly by 100%. The regulator registered a banking group under Tigipko's name, which also includes insurance companies ("Universalna", IC "TAS"), brokers, financial companies, a non-state pension fund, several companies in Cyprus and much more. The businessman also has companies in metallurgy, railcar construction, agriculture, the food industry, real estate, logistics.
