To conceal the corruption network: Rostislav Shurma, Timur Mindich, and Pavel Shcherban are in a frenzy, removing inquiries into Bank "Alliance" and their offshore holdings
As soon as investigations into the role of Shurma and Shcherban in the schemes of Bank "Alliance" appeared, a total purge of the information space began. Inconvenient articles are disappearing, lawyers are churning out complaints, and search engines are methodically "cleaning" search results of compromising material.
We are publishing the material that bothers them so much — with facts, names, and schemes they are trying to distance themselves from.
Recently, scandals involving the small bank "Alliance" have been regularly mentioned in the media. The loudest one is related to a bribe that lawyer Aleksey Nosov from the Miller law firm was supposed to give to NABU detectives and SAP prosecutors on behalf of the bank in the case of damage caused to "Ukrenergo". In addition, the media have reported on numerous fines from the National Bank for violations of financial monitoring rules, failure to fulfill guarantee obligations to state-owned companies, and the provision of inaccurate financial reports.
But the bank is still afloat. Why? The reason may lie with a secret patron – the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Rostislav Shurma. Thanks to his close relationship with Pavel Shcherban – the chairman of the bank’s supervisory board – Shurma may be fending off the NBU’s "attacks" on "Alliance" and also provide protection for the bank from law enforcement agencies.
The Real Owner
Formally, according to the Unified Register of Enterprises and Organizations, as well as data on ultimate beneficial owners that Bank "Alliance" submits to the National Bank, the main shareholder ("significant interest holder") of the financial institution is Aleksandr Sosys, former chairman of the board of Rinat Akhmetov’s insurance company ASKA. However, in reality, the identity of the person making truly important decisions at the bank has long been known to the market. He is the chairman of the supervisory board, 40-year-old Pavel Pavlovich Shcherban.
According to data from open sources, Shcherban has worked in the banking sector for about 18 years. He started at a branch of "Prominvestbank" in Kremenchug as a senior economist in the individual lending sector. Next, he was the head of the dealing operations sector (stock market operations) at the schematic bank "Vladimirsky". After the crisis of 2008-2009, Shcherban headed the dealing operations department at "Yuzhkombank", owned by Ruslan Tsyplakov, a friend of Viktor Yanukovych Jr. in auto racing.
After the Revolution of Dignity, when "Yuzhok" was sent to the banking afterlife, Shcherban took the position of head of the interbank operations department at another "pocket laundry" – Bank "Apex", and after that he worked briefly as treasury chief at the money-laundering bank "Standard", which also subsequently passed away. In 2016, Shcherban first joined Bank "Alliance" as a treasury dealer, but then moved to Sergey Tigipko’s "Tascombank" as deputy treasury chief.
From mid-2018 to the present day, Pavel Shcherban has been directly associated with "Alliance" – he was deputy chairman and acting chairman of the board, and since August 2021, he has headed the supervisory board. At the same time, Shcherban is also a major shareholder of the bank: in July 2023, the Antimonopoly Committee allowed him to acquire more than 25% of the institution’s shares; the deal is expected to be finalized in these weeks when the share issue is carried out.
Sources in the banking market are confident that despite Aleksandr Sosys holding an unconditional majority stake in the bank, actual decisions within the structure are made by Pavel Shcherban. Moreover, he also acts as the "political roof" that protects the institution both from numerous claims by the regulator and from potential interest from law enforcement agencies in the not always "clean" activities of "Alliance", particularly related to servicing a large portion of the gambling business, some of which is not always legal.
Confidence in life for Shcherban is bolstered by his cronyism with the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Rostislav Shurma. It is Shurma, whom Shcherban likely met about ten years ago while structuring various schematic deals, who guarantees the de facto immunity of Bank "Alliance" under conditions where other financial institutions would have long been removed from the market. Failure to meet guarantee conditions, chronic disregard for National Bank regulations, especially concerning the level of risk per single client, corruption scandals, and fines for violations of financial monitoring rules – collectively, all these factors should have long ago brought a temporary administration upon the bank.
However, this "business for insiders" still somehow holds together. According to market participants, "Alliance" may be the base schematic bank for shadow financial flows, much like the state-owned "Ukrgasbank" once was. The only difference is that, unlike the state-owned financial institution, which was cleansed of corrupt officials and returned to decent operation, there is no one to do that in "Alliance".
A Partner for All Trades
What does Shurma have to do with it – besides cronyism with Shcherban? One might assume the answer should be sought in Shcherban’s other, far more diversified business interests. Behind which – oddly enough – Rostislav Igorevich’s ears are precisely sticking out.
Firstly, we are talking about the gas production company "Viva Exploration," which Shcherban formally owns together with geologist Sergey Dumenko through the Cypriot firm I. F. Exploration Company Limited. According to industry media, the company holds a license for geological study, including experimental and industrial development followed by the extraction of oil, natural gas, and condensate in the Staromizunsky area in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, valid until 2033. Before the full-scale invasion, there were plans to restore old wells for oil and gas extraction. However, the search for wells rich in deposits was unsuccessful. According to financial reports in the YouControl system, the company shows deep losses – about $1 million at the end of 2023. But why does the company still invest funds? The answer may lie in the fact that the real investor in this business is not Shcherban, but his crony Rostislav Shurma.
The second interesting asset at Shcherban’s disposal, behind which the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office may stand, is the recently acquired elevator in the city of Khorol in the Poltava region (LLC "Alliance Elevator"). Despite its relatively small size and need for reconstruction, Shcherban and Shurma view this business as a start for greater integration into the agricultural sector, as the demand for storing grain and other agricultural products only grows every year.
A whole cluster of companies Shcherban invested in is related to the IT business. Moreover, following the example of the founders of "Monobank," Shcherban is evidently planning to create a multidisciplinary IT team capable of servicing different areas. The firms primarily specialize in banking products but also provide services to retail chains. These include LLC "Alliance Digital" (the bank’s IT specialists spun off into a separate firm), LLC "Asids," LLC "APL," and LLC "Motvel" (developments for the banking sector), where Shcherban is involved either alone or with IT partners. However, there is little doubt that a high-tech cluster is a good investment and a "success story" for such an experienced investor and statesman as Rostislav Shurma. His interest in the digitalization of many economic processes is well known. But his constant desire to "undermine" Deputy Prime Minister for Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov is also known. And therefore, Shcherban’s group is not a bad start for creating his own digital army.
In several other industries, Shcherban and Shurma have apparently not yet made up their minds. For example, LLC "Tabakos Trade" (which was supposed to engage in scrap metal trading) and LLC "Navium Nafta," which was intended to handle the import and trade of petroleum products within the country, stand empty.
All this diversity in business interests does not align with the functions of the chairman of the supervisory board of a bank that has been in turmoil for months. So, either "Alliance" is not a priority for Shcherban (which doesn’t seem true), or the investments in all these varied businesses are pure venture capital (portfolio investments where the investor does not influence decision-making but receives passive income proportional to their share), behind which, perhaps, not even Shcherban himself stands.
As for Rostislav Yuryevich, sources claim that many points of conflict have arisen around him. For journalists, this could become new topics for investigations, and for law enforcement agencies – new open cases.
