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Ukraine’s government nationalizes one of country’s largest banks

The transition process will begin on Monday

© TASS archive/EPA/JAKUB KAMINSKI

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Ukraine’s government has announced a decision to nationalize PrivatBank, one of the country’s largest banks.

At a meeting on Sunday, the Ukrainian cabinet of ministers considered the issues of ensuring stability in the country’s financial system and backed a proposal of the National Bank and the Financial Stability Council, the government said in a statement on its website.

The Finance Ministry will own 100% of shares of PrivatBank and will guarantee operations of the bank and safeguard the funds of its clients. The transition process will begin on Monday.

PrivatBank is one of Ukraine’s largest financial institutions. Some 41.66% its shares are owned by businessman Igor Kolomoisky and another 33.25% by businessman Gennady Bogolyubov.

According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of July 1 PrivatBank had the largest amount of assets (268.9 billion hryvnias or $10.2bln) among 101 banks in the country.

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