Volodymyr Khlyynyuk, president of Ukraine’s Finance & Credit Bank, said on April 10 that the bank would sell its 25% stake to a foreign investor. Khlyynyuk did not indicate the name of the investor, saying the bank is simply considering the prospect.

The bank is not ruling out placing this 25% in an IPO, as the sale is necessary to reach bank’s goal to increase amount of total assets by 150 percent in 2006 to UAH7 billion (US$1.4 billion). Khlyvnyuk added that the bank may attract syndicated credit or issue Eurobonds for this purpose. Finance & Credit Bank was founded in 1990 by a consortium of the largest domestic banks. It has increased its total assets by 190 percent to UAH4.4 billion (US$880 million).