Georgian Citizen Granted Right to Purchase Ukrainian BTA Bank

On March 2, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine granted a Georgian citizen, Rati Chelidze, the right to purchase the controlling stake in Ukrainian BTA Bank's assets.

However, Chelidze still needs to obtain additional approval from the National Bank of Ukraine to proceed with the purchase of the bank. As of today, the bank has not granted this permission.

The shareholders of Ukrainian BTA Bank have been attempting to sell the bank's assets for years. Although Kaspi.kz, owned by Mikheil Lomtadze, was approved by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine in 2021 to purchase the bank, it remains unclear why the sale did not proceed. Similarly, Belarusian businessman Nikolai Vorobei was interested in buying the bank a year before Lomtadze, but his request was denied by the Central Bank of Ukraine due to sanctions against him.

Rati Chelidze, a business partner of former Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili, was listed in the Panama Papers. As of February 1, 2023, Ukrainian BTA Bank has assets worth 292.1 million hryvnias (approximately $8 million) and liabilities of 66 million hryvnias (approximately $1.8 million). The bank's capital is 226.1 million hryvnias (approximately $6.2 million), and it has a net loss of 2.4 million hryvnias (approximately $65 thousand).

Currently, Kazakh BTA Bank owns Ukrainian BTA Bank, with two major owners: Kazakh entrepreneur Kenes Rakishev (70.54%) and Fincraft Group (29.02%), a holding company owned by him. Rakishev's fortune is estimated at $960 million by Kazakh Forbes.