The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has canceled the registration of Elayens, operating under the Fondy brand, as an indirect participant in the international payment systems Visa and MasterCard. This decision was made because the company’s activities posed risks to Ukraine’s national security.
- The NBU received this information from law enforcement officers in February-April 2024.
- The NBU noted that the owner of the Fondy trademark is B & A Holding GmbH (Austria). Valeria Valerievna Vagorovskaya is a direct participant (95%) and director of the company.
- According to the data, in January-February 2024, Fondy’s share among indirect participants in card payment systems amounted to 21.82% of the number and 9.35% of the amount of payment card transactions made by indirect participants.
- Overall, Eliens held about 2% of the non-banking payment services market.
AIN.UA also received a comment from Valeria Vahorovska, owner of the Fondy payment platform. According to her, the NBU’s decision is “unfair.” She also asks the Security Service of Ukraine to publish evidence that the company may threaten national security.
“We know for sure that there is no such evidence. We have nothing to hide from Ukraine, from our clients and partners. We have gone through the most difficult path of attracting a major international investor and now the state, represented by the regulator, has essentially canceled the part of the investment that was supposed to be directed to the Ukrainian economy and was supposed to support the country in the most difficult period of the war. Unfortunately, we have been subjected to unprecedented pressure on our business and our reputation, and we have no choice but to defend ourselves by all available legal means,” says Vagorovska.
Last week, Georgia’s largest commercial bank, TBC Bank Group, received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to acquire the Fondy payment platform.
Earlier, anonymous telegram channels accused Fondy, the payment system with which Uklon cooperates, of operating in Russia, particularly after 2014. Fondy denied the allegations, saying that it was acting within the framework of Ukrainian law.
