Member Article

The year 2004 saw increased M&A activity in the Ukrainian banking sector. Some of the notable acquisitions include equity transfers in Kredit Bank (to PKO Bank Polski S.A.), Transbank (to Bank TuranAlem of Kazakhstan),Bank Leader (to Renaissance Capital of Russia), and, of course, the benchmark deal of the year — acquisitionby Vilniaus Bankas, a Lithuanian subsidiary of the powerful SEB Group of Sweden, of the Joint Stock Bank Agio. It seems that many international bankers will keep a close watch on Ukraine as a good acquisition target in 2005, followingUkraine’s impressive on-going economic growth and gradual increase in credit ratings. In the view of many analysts, 2005 should start a Ukrainian investment boom as a result of liberalizationand further European unification of Ukrainian business and investment law, as promised by the new government.