Monobank

History

2022: Announcement of the removal of the Russian language from the application amid the conflict in Ukraine

In September 2022, it became known that Monobank will remove the Russian language in the next update of the application. Co-founder of the bank Oleg Gorokhovsky explained the decision with his civic position and hopes that people will treat it with understanding. The bank's application in Russian is used by 838 thousand people. The decision was made against the background of the ongoing special operation of Russia in Ukraine.

2021: Friedman failed to buy Ukrainian monobak for $1 billion

In mid-November 2021, it became known about plans to LetterOne Mikhail Fridman buy monobank for more than $1 billion. He wrote about the proposed Ukrainian Forbes deal with reference to financiers.

In a conversation with Forbes, Sergey Popenko, head of the supervisory board of Universal Bank, under whose banking license monobank works, confirmed negotiations with unnamed investors.

Investors came to us, you read the press... There were intense negotiations. Our side is not yet ready for the transaction. It was an interest that led to our thinking. But our readiness was insufficient, - said Popenko.

Mikhail Fridman could not buy Ukrainian monobak for $1 billion

According to the co-founder of monobank Oleg Gorokhovsky, the partners could not agree with each other. He announced in August 2021 that the project is already worth more than $1 billion and is not for sale. Popenko considers this assessment justified. In his opinion, the project should be evaluated by multipliers not of banks, but of technology companies.

A source close to the owners of LetterOne did not confirm or deny this information.

If you apply a profit multiplier, which even in Ukraine is 6, the cost of mono will be $1 billion. Being a zero asset three years ago, monobank now serves more than four million customers and has the second largest retail portfolio in the country after PrivatBank. When there is such a successful history, the country's market and risk are secondary. Investors are ready to invest in such companies at any multipliers, "Popenko said.

One of the further scenarios, according to Gorokhovsky, is the sale of part of the monobank through a SPAC company or IPO on the horizon for three years.

A source close to the owners of LetterOne did not confirm or deny this information to the publication.

Forbes estimates Mikhail Fridman's fortune at $15.5 billion and puts the entrepreneur in 11th place in the ranking of the richest Russians.^[1]

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