You're reading: Rothschild, Investment Capital Ukraine hired to sell Poroshenko’s assets

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has chosen the investment company Rothschild in a consortium with the investment group Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) to prepare and organize the sale of his assets, which he promised to do after his election, Radio Liberty has reported.

Giovanni Salvetti, managing director of Rothschild & Cie, said on the Schemes TV program in Kyiv that the company is now completing the procedure to sign the contract on Rothschild’s participation in this process in a consortium with its local partners, Investment Capital Ukraine.

Salvetti said that work on the sale process would begin next week.

Managing Director, Head of Investment Banking at ICU Makar Paseniuk told Interfax-Ukraine that the point at issue is the Roshen corporation.

The ICU Group was created in June 2006. It comprises an investment company, an assets management company and the bank Avangard. The value of the net assets of the public funds managed by ICU exceeded Hr 329 million as of July 1.

Until recently, the group’s co-owner and CEO was Valeriya Gontareva, who was tapped to head the National Bank of Ukraine in June (she was nominated to the post by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko). After that, Gontareva sold her stake in ICU and Mark Paseniuk and Konstantin Stetsenko remained partners.

During his tenure as head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council in March 2005, Poroshenko transferred his business assets to OJSC Closed Non-Diversified Corporate Investment Fund “Petro Poroshenko,” which was later renamed Prime Assets Capital.

Among his largest assets are the confectionary corporation Roshen, which has assets in Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Hungary, and Germany, TV Channel 5, the Kyiv-based Leninska Kuznia shipyard (with land sites in Kyiv), the Sevastopol shipyard, a 55 percent stake in the Element 5 fitness club in Kyiv, a 50.08 percent stake in the International Investment Bank, and a 49.996 percent stake in the Kraina insurance company.

According to the Ukrainian State Register, Poroshenko remains the sole owner of the fund, which is managed by his father Oleksiy Poroshenko.

Poroshenko’s share in Bogdan Corporation was among his largest assets. However, he said he had left that business several years ago, exchanging this share for a share in Roshen Corporation with his partner Oleh Svynarchuk.

In Aug., Poroshenko appointed Svynarchuk as chief of the interdepartmental commission on military-technical cooperation and export control policies.

Prime Assets Capital is managed by assets management company Fusion Capital Partners, which also manages the investment funds VIK (headed by Ihor Kononenko, co-chairman of the UDAR-Solidarity faction in Kyiv City Council), SOVA (headed by Oleh Svynarchuk), Kondyterinvest (headed by Viacheslav Moskalevsky), Bogdan Capital, and BRIZ.

Forbes magazine estimated the value of Poroshenko’s assets at $1.3 billion in May 2014 against $1.6 billion in 2013.

According to the declaration, Poroshenko’s revenues in 2013 reached Hr 51.83 million and his family members’ revenues reached Hr 52,000. Specifically, dividends and interest brought Poroshenko Hr 13.53 million and revenues from the sale of securities and corporate rights brought him Hr 38.06 million. Poroshenko has Hr 114 million in bank accounts and his family members have Hr 105,000 in banks.

Poroshenko also owns securities worth Hr 8.6 million and has contributions to the charter capital of enterprises and organizations worth Hr 71.57 million.