It can be hard to believe today, but in the run-up to the financial crisis Ukraine was seen as one of emerging Europe’s most promising markets by international investment banks.
Listings by Ukrainian companies were starting to appear on stock exchanges in London and Warsaw, while a growing cohort of corporate borrowers was raising funding in the Eurobond market.
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Much of that business passed through the Kiev office of ING, which in 2006 became the first foreign bank to set up an investment banking arm on the ground in Ukraine.
Overseeing the new operation was Makar Paseniuk, who had been covering the market from London since joining ING eight years earlier.
By that time, the Dutch bank already had a commanding lead in Ukrainian investment banking.
“I was lucky enough to be part of most of the landmark transactions in Ukraine, including the first sovereign bond issue, the debut Eurobonds of most of the larger corporates and the first international IPO from Ukraine,” says Paseniuk.
