It should be noted that among the top ten largest banks in Europe there is only
one Italian (UniCredit). In terms of assets and number of employees, the Italian banks
are relatively small. On average, they are larger than German but less than French or
Spanish banks. The cost of assets managed by one employee is lower than the major
countries of the Eurozone, except Germany. In 2015, the number of residents in a
branch in Italy was 1.9 thousand, which is higher than in Spain (1.5 thousand) and
France (1.8 thousand), but lower than in Germany (2.4 thousand).
As of 2016, the largest Italian commercial banks in terms of aggregate assets are
the UniCredit banking group (€ 939.5 billion), Intesa Sanpaolo (€ 766.5 billion), and
the cooperative bank Banco BPM, which has been functioning since January 1, 2017
as a result of the merger between Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano. Italian
banking sector assets are comprised 87% of Italian banks, 5.6% of EU subsidiaries and
6.5% of EU member banks [3].
UniCredit Group is one of the largest European banking groups and the most
successful banking group in 13 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, that until
recently operated in Ukraine. Having been present on the Ukrainian market since 1997
as UniCredit Bank Ukraine, the company completed the merger with HVB Bank
Ukraine and its subsidiary Ukrsotsbank in 2007 in accordance with the UniCredit
Group Integration Strategy in CEE countries. The purchase of 95% of Ukrsotsbank
shares, the third largest bank by assets in 2007 in Ukraine, was held at a record for its
market price of 1.52 billion euros with the bank's capital worth 2.07 billion UAH,
which corresponds to a sales ratio of 5.36.
However, in 2013, the Unicredit Bank Ukraine apperead on the list of assets held
for sale, and in January 2016 UniCredit group left the Ukrainian market, having sold
99.8% of the shares of Ukrsotsbank to ABH Holdings (ABHH), that is part of Russian
Alpha Group. The shares were sold in exchange for a minority stake of 9.9% in ABHH,
one seat on the board of directors of ABHH and a right to oblige the company to hold
the initial IPO as a protection of its rights. The price of 9.9% of the shares in cash was
not announced, though Bank Austria, which belongs to UniCredit group and oversees
- 103 -