PrivatBank denies rumors on its nationalization

The largest bank in Ukraine – PrivatBank (Dnipropetrovsk) – has denied rumors that it will be nationalized.

"It's enough to nationalize us and introduce temporary administration!" First Deputy Board Chairman Oleh Horokhovsky wrote on his Facebook page.

He cited First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Oleksandr Pysaruk. The statement was confirmed to Interfax-Ukraine by the press service of the regulator.

"PrivatBank is a systemically important bank for the financial system and it is the largest saving specialized bank servicing 34% of individuals' deposits in the country. The regulator permanently monitors its operation via curators and pays special attention to all systemic banks. At present, PrivatBank observes liquidity requirements, it is operating as usual and is stably servicing clients," Pysaruk said.

Horokhovsky said that PrivatBank is the only bank among the top ten banks which observes the capital adequacy requirement – 10.02% (the requirement is 10%).

Earlier, Horokhovsky wrote on Facebook that the bank's clients had started to SMS messages and calls stating that temporary administration had been introduced at the bank.

"The funniest thing is that they sent a message to our board chairman," he wrote.

PrivatBank was founded in 1992. As of July 7, its largest shareholders were Hennadiy Boholiubov and Ihor Kolomoisky with shares of 45.3182% each.

The bank was the largest bank among 123 banks operating in the country on October 1, 2015 by total assets (UAH 241.809 billion), according to the NBU.