Ukraine Refused to "Lukashenka's Wallet" and Medvedchuk's Partner in Buying a Ukrainian Bank

The refusal was motivated by EU sanctions against the Belarusian businessman.

The National Bank of Ukraine refused to the citizen of the Republic of Belarus Mikalai Varabei in buying 100% of the authorized capital of BTA Bank.

On December 24, 2020, such a decision was made by the committee on supervision and regulation of banks, supervision (oversight) of NBU payment systems, the regulator said, as Novoye Vremya writes.

"The above decision was made due to the fact that the applicant's business reputation is not impeccable. So, on December 17, 2020, by the decision of the EU Council No. 2020/2130, Mikalai Varabei was assigned to the list of persons to whom personal restrictions (sanctions) were applied. According to the requirements of the regulatory legal acts of the National Bank, the application of sanctions to a person is the basis for the loss of an impeccable business reputation during the term of the sanctions and three years after their cancellation," the NBU said.

The regulator noted that another reason for the decision was the failure to provide sufficient documents and information to confirm the compliance of the applicant's financial condition and sources of his own funds with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation.

Now the controller of BTA Bank is a citizen of Kazakhstan Kenes Rakishev.

As reported, Mikalai Varabei received permission to purchase BTA Bank from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine in early December.

Varabei has significant business interests in Ukraine, which NV Business wrote about. In particular, it was reported about his business ties with Putin's child's godfather Viktor Medvedchuk. In Belarus, Varabei is considered "Lukashenka's wallet."