Ukrgasbank requires UAH 4 bln of additional capital

Government-controlled Ukrgasbank (Kyiv) requires UAH 4 billion of additional capital, Board Chairman Kyrylo Shevchenko has said.

"Due diligence conducted by PWC as of January 1… unveiled the necessity of injecting additional capital into Ukrgasbank in the amount of up to UAH 4 billion for this year," he said in an interview with Business weekly.

He said that the increase in capital will allow the bank to observe all regulator requirements.

He said that the National Bank of Ukraine stress test conducted until early 2014 revealed the necessity of investing at least UAH 1 billion into the bank.

Shevechenko also said that Ukrgasbank plans to add the assets and liabilities of insolvent banks to its assets and liabilities: the decision foresees the additional capitalization of the bank using budget funds.

"Now dozens of banks are leaving the market via the Individuals' Deposit Guarantee Fund. We present a growth strategy for Ukrgasbank via merging the assets and liabilities of such banks… we want to test the scheme on one, two or three banks," he said.

Ukrgasbank was created in 1993. The main shareholder of the bank at the beginning of October 2014 was the Ukrainian Finance Ministry, with a share of 92.9998%.

Subsidiary Bank Sberbank of Russia ranked 15th among 166 operating banks as of October 1, 2014, in terms of total assets worth UAH 22.97 billion, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.