Rothschild & Co to handle sale of Sens Bank and Ukrgasbank

Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance has selected Rothschild & Co as the foreign financial adviser for the sale of two state-owned banks — Sens Bank and Ukrgasbank.

Sources in the financial market reported this to the outlet Strana.

Applications for the adviser selection were accepted until June 15, and on August 24 the authorities notified applicants of their decision. The appointment of a financial adviser is expected to kick off the sale process for both state banks.

Rothschild & Co’s key responsibilities under this engagement include: analysis and audit of the banks’ financial and legal condition, identification of risks and development of measures to address them; providing recommendations on restructuring, governance improvements, and operational optimization ahead of the sale; calculating market value and proposing an optimal starting price for the share package; marketing and sourcing investors in both international and domestic markets, and negotiating with potential buyers; preparing auction documentation and purchase agreements, and overseeing a transparent competitive process.

Ukrgasbank was nationalized back in 2009. In November 2017, the authorities first announced plans for its privatization — the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, was considered a potential investor at the time, though it was open to acquiring only a 20% stake, including through a debt-for-equity swap on previously issued loans.

Sens Bank, which had belonged to structures of the Russian Alfa Group, was nationalized in July 2023. The possibility of its sale was officially raised in March 2024, but no actual privatization preparations were carried out. It was only in October 2025 that the Cabinet of Ministers officially launched the sale process for both banks. Talk of privatization intensified sharply following the recent simultaneous resignation of Sens Bank’s entire supervisory board and the removal of its chairman in connection with a corruption scandal — involving allegations of laundering approximately €2.9 million to post bail for former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.

Rothschild & Co has been working with Ukrainian projects for a number of years. The company restructured the debt of Metinvest for approximately €2.6 billion, of Ukrzaliznytsia for approximately €855.3 million, and Ukraine’s sovereign public debt (jointly with White & Case) for approximately €17.5 billion. In addition, it raised loans and investments for Naftogaz in 2017 and arranged Ukrainian government Eurobond placements in 2017–2018 totaling approximately €2.6 billion. The subsidiary Rothschild Trust (Schweiz) established a blind trust for the Roshen company and managed Petro Poroshenko’s stake in the company during his presidency.