Makar Pasenyuk biography. Investigation: Makar Pasenyuk
Managing Director, Head of Investment Banking Department, Head of Investment Committee
Education
Pasenyuk graduated from 12th grade at the Alexandria School for Boys (USA, Virginia). Having entered Boston University, he took a sabbatical and returned to Ukraine - his family did not have the opportunity to pay for his education in the States.As a result, Pasenyuk received his higher education in Kyiv - at the International Christian University. Bachelor's degree in business administration from the International Christian University (Ukraine/Austria), CFA certificate.
Career
In his first year, he worked as a columnist for economic and financial news in the English-language weekly Eastern Economist.In 1997, an office of the English investment bank Caspian Securities, created by one of the highest paid investment bankers, Christopher Heath, opened in Kyiv. 20-year-old Pasenyuk saw this as an excellent chance to lay the foundation for a future career and asked to be hired. The refusal he received from the bank did not frighten him, and he offered to work for free for a while. Three months later, Pasenyuk was already a full-time employee with a good salary.
In 1998, Caspian curtailed its activities in Ukraine, part of the team moved to the London bank ING, which then opened an office in Ukraine. In his new position, Paseniuk was engaged in analysis of Ukrainian issuers (equity research) - mainly in the energy sector. A year later, he moved to the depository department, and later headed the securities department of the Ukrainian ING Bank.
Among the largest transactions of that period in which Pasenyuk took part were the restructuring of Ukraine’s commercial external debt in the amount of $2.7 billion, the sale of large stakes in a number of regional power companies, the acquisition by MTS of the Ukrainian mobile operator UMC, etc.
From 2002 to 2006, Pasenyuk worked in the London office of ING, overseeing transactions in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of his clients, however, were from Ukraine. In 2006, he decided to move back and upon his return headed the investment banking division of the Ukrainian ING.
In 2009, he moved from ING to the ICU company created by him, Konstantin Stetsenko and (now the Head of the National Bank).
More than 15 years of experience in international and local markets. His team is the most productive in Ukraine, the volume of M&A transactions completed is more than $1.0 billion, debt restructuring transactions - $2.0 billion and debt raising transactions - UAH 3 billion.
Recent successful transactions include the takeover of Allseeds, the purchase of Enselco in Ukraine and Russian Oils in Russia.
In May 2011, despite the crisis, he was involved in the public offering of an industrial dairy company on the WSE.
Participated in the restructuring of Ukraine's external debt in the amount of $2.7 billion. Advised the Kyiv city administration and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on the issue of Eurobonds, and also advised the State Property Fund of Ukraine.
Under Makar’s leadership the following transactions were successfully completed:
The first Ukrainian IPO on AIM (Ukrainian developer XXI Century, 2006);
The first Ukrainian IPO on the WSE (Astarta, 2006), IPO and SPO for Kernel and Astarta - leading Ukrainian agricultural holdings; LBO for Soyuz-Victan, a producer of alcoholic beverages in the CIS, and a private placement for BaDM, a leading Ukrainian pharmaceutical distributor.
Trump's enemies were hired in Washington to promote the interests of the Ukrainian presidential administration
Original of this material© Strana.ua, 01/09/2017, Will Trump’s enemies be able to make Poroshenko friends with the new US president?, Photo: Reuters, bgrdc.com, Illustration: via Strana.ua
Anastasia Pasyutina
| Petro Poroshenko
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Thus, the information from “Strana”, which was reported back on December 16, that Bankova intends to hire BGR Group for lobbying in Washington, was fully confirmed.
True, it is still unclear whether Poroshenko will be able to improve relations with Trump after “everything that happened” and even with the help of such specific lobbyists.
Conditions of a contract
At the end of December, BGR Group agreed with Ukraine on the “development and implementation” of a strategy in the areas of business development and government relations. We are also talking about “organizing meetings” with American officials.As noted in the information provided by FARA, Ukraine will pay BGR Group $50 thousand monthly at least until the end of 2017. The document (can be read at the link) indicates the client’s address - “Bankovaya 11 Kyiv, Ukraine”. That is, the Administration of President Petro Poroshenko.
And the negotiations were led by Dmitry Shimkiv, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine and Secretary of the National Reform Council, which ended on December 23 with the signing of an agreement on the provision of lobbying services.
The lobbyists' signature on the agreement was Todd Eardensohn, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of BGR Group, responsible for government relations.
Anastasia Pasyutina
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| Makar Pasenyuk
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BGR group is an influential American company that has existed for 25 years. The firm's founder, Ed Rogers, worked in the White House as deputy assistant to President George H. W. Bush and assistant chief of staff. He also served as the first deputy campaign manager for the Bush-Quayle election campaign in 1988.
After leaving the White House in 1991, Ed Rogers founded a lobbying firm with his longtime political friend Haley Barbour (Governor of Mississippi and head of the Republican National Committee). Later, Lanny Griffith joined the company (Lanny Griffith - also worked in the Administration of President Bush, worked on education reform).
"Whether you are a US or international customer, you depend on information about how Washington affects you," the company says on its website. "No firm understands Washington better than BGR. We give you the data, insights and connections you need to achieve your goals."
The main activities of BGR group are government lobbying, PR, business consulting. According to Fortune magazine, the company became the No. 2 lobbying firm in Washington in the 1990s.
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A “Country” source from the States characterizes the BGR company as follows: “They are very expensive: the budget for showing off their knees is at least 5 million dollars, for all sorts of tricks such as communication and PR - additional services - it will also run up to a couple of million.”
But the main intrigue is that the company’s founder, Ed Rogers, was one of the leaders of the Never Trump movement, which was founded with the goal of preventing the future US president from coming to power.
“Therefore, hiring this lobbying firm to build bridges with Trump and his administration means throwing money down the drain. These guys from BGR have been campaigning for Poroshenko for a long time. Poroshenko at first didn’t want to pay, he thought it was expensive. But now he’s apparently panicking, and he promised to pay. But he is unlikely to reach Trump through BGR,” said a Strana source in lobbying circles in Washington.
We sent a request to BGR asking to confirm or deny this information, but received no response. By calling the phone number listed on the company's website, we were promised to comment on the situation next week.
They do not comment on Poroshenko’s information either. "Strana" sent a request to the President's financial adviser Makar Pasenyuk, who had previously been repeatedly mentioned in connection with Pyotr Alekseevich's lobbying efforts in the United States. But at the time of publication, we had not received a response from him (but we are ready to publish Pasenyuk’s position on this issue at any time - Ed.).
100 thousand dollars for lobbying Ukraine
It is interesting that earlier Petro Poroshenko, with the help of Makar Pasenyuk, enlisted the support of another American lobbying company, close not to the Republican, but to the US Democratic Party, to promote the interests of Ukraine in Washington. But this was before Republican Donald Trump, unexpectedly for the Ukrainian authorities, won the presidential election.Thus, on the FARA (The Foreign Agents Registration Act) website you can publicly find a contract between the American lobbying company Ben Barnes Group and the offshore company AS Prima Societas Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands. AS Prima Sodetas Limited is wholly owned and controlled by Artem Saprykin, and lobbyist services are paid for by... Makar Pasenyuk.
Makar Pasenyuk is a financial adviser to the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, co-owner of the Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) company, and in the past a business partner of the head of the National Bank Valeria Gontareva. Artem Saprykin, who is indicated in the contract as the owner of the offshore company, also works for the ICU company. Let us recall that Pasenyuk, on behalf of Poroshenko, was engaged in the sale of the Roshen corporation and, in particular, the Lipetsk factory. In addition, it was Pasenyuk, as Strana wrote, who negotiated the purchase and sale of Channel 112 in the interests of the president. True, the deal fell through.
According to the document, from October 2015 to September 2016, Makar Pasenyuk transferred $100 thousand per month (plus operating expenses) to Ben Barnes Group through an offshore company. Thus, over the past year, the American lobbying firm, according to the contract, was supposed to receive at least $1.1 million from Pasenyuk “for the services of promoting the economic and geopolitical interests of the Ukrainian government.” In a commentary to Strana, Makar Pasenyuk previously confirmed the legitimacy of this document.
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International law specialist Markiyan Klyuchkovsky explains that the term “foreign principal” is very broad. It includes foreign governments, political parties, foreign citizens, and foreign organizations.
“If we assume that the data is reliable, I see no reason to talk about government control. And yet, it cannot be ruled out that the company is controlled by senior officials. Only a special investigation can establish the reliability of the data,” he said.
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Also, judging by the contract, the Client (AS Prima Societas Limited) must be aware that “the Consultant has other projects and clients whose interests must also be taken into account.”
The contract was personally signed by Ben Barnes, owner of the Ben Barnes Group.
Barnes is 78 years old and lives in Texas. And, as Strana managed to find out, he regularly donates large sums to support the US Democratic Party, and also sponsors the election campaign Hillary Clinton. According to Federal Election Commission records, Ben Barnes gave $2,300 to Hillary's campaign twice (the maximum allowable donation for an individual is $5,000). As can be seen from the register, he also regularly made contributions to the US Democratic Party.
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In 1993, by the time the Clinton administration arrived, for many years there had been an internal travel agency in the White House - The White House Travel Office, which organized charter planes for the White House press corps, which accompanied the president on all his trips .
But after Bill Clinton became president, the White House, without a tender, gave a contract to provide charters to a private travel company, Little Rock, associated with Clinton's relatives. And the employees of the Travel Bureau were fired with a scandal, in addition, criminal cases were opened against them and accused of embezzlement of funds. (By the way, the very first flight organized by Little Rock was unsuccessful: the plane took off at the wrong time, there were problems with fuel, and most importantly, they forgot to load the journalists with booze).
And Patsy Thomasson, at that time an employee of the Clinton administration, was directly involved in this scheme.
It is Patsy Thomasson who is associated with the concealment of a key document in the Travelgate case - a memorandum from David Watkins, a White House lawyer, in which he describes in detail the background to the dismissal of Travel Agency employees and the role of Hillary Clinton personally in this story. According to Watkins, the New York Times newspaper reports that it was at the insistence of the first lady that the Travel Bureau employees were fired, although the lawyer himself insisted on a gradual reorganization of the department. White House officials found the document in the saved files of Patsy Thomasson, then an assistant to Mr. Watkins. And now - one of the leading employees of the Ben Barnes Group.
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"We can pay whoever we want"
But why did a private offshore company represented by Makar Pasenyuk and Artem Saprykin pay for lobbying services in the interests of the Ukrainian authorities in the United States?"Payment for services in itself is not subject to tax. Lobbying for the interests of Ukraine is, in principle, not prohibited. The use of an offshore company can be explained by many factors, in particular, currency restrictions in Ukraine, through which it is difficult to make a payment abroad. There are many nuances here, without knowing which It’s difficult to say anything specifically,” says lawyer Markiyan Klyuchkovsky. In his opinion, from a legal point of view, AS Prima Societas Limited is clean before the law.
Regarding cooperation with the Ben Barnes Group, we were lucky to get a response from Makar Pasenyuk, who, judging by the above contract, paid this firm for the company’s lobbying services from his own pocket. He confirmed the existence of payments.
“We are a private company and, accordingly, we can pay whoever we want. The actual amount paid is 220,572 thousand dollars,” Pasenyuk said. According to him, lobbyists, like investment bankers, introduce people and bring interests together, but, unlike investment bankers, they do not participate in their clients’ transactions, but receive retainers (fixed payments/subscription fees). Their clients are private businesses - both American and foreign.
“At one time, ICU brought such well-known personalities in the world of finance and investment to the country as Nouriel Roubini, Nassim Taleb and others in order to increase their awareness of Ukraine, its opportunities and problems. After Roubini’s visit, by the way, Ukraine regularly appears in its speeches and analytical research. Would this be possible without our efforts? I think not. We publish a series of business books in Ukrainian to improve the level of financial literacy. Do you think the publishing rights are given to us for free or are they given to everyone? I hope everyone the above answers the question of what lobbyists do and for whom,” Paseniuk said, and added that government officials communicate directly with everyone who needs to be informed about something. According to Pasenyuk, they don’t need lobbyists for this, and “for private business, such a privilege does not fall out of the sky on its own.”
That is, in essence, Paseniuk claims that the services were not provided for the Ukrainian state. But already in the next paragraph he advises paying attention to how Ukraine is perceived by the outside world:
"Scandals and endless negative PR. One of the reasons for the growth of the stock market and the placement of shares and bonds of Ukrainian companies in 2005-2007 was that Dragon, Concord, ING and others invested their money in promoting a story called "Ukraine". There were receptions, conferences, days of Ukrainian companies in London, New York, as well as in some Asian cities, which were attended by the top officials of serious organizations. Do you think this all happened for free?" Makar Paseniuk answered us.
True, he did not answer Strana’s question about why his offshore company turned to Ben Barnes Group in order to attract investments to Ukraine and promote it on the world stage.
Change of vector
Political scientist Konstantin Bondarenko has a version why Poroshenko’s financial adviser Makar Paseniuk, on the eve of the US presidential elections, chose Ben Barnes Group among all American lobbying companies.“Most likely, it was like this: Petro Poroshenko set the task for his financial adviser Makar Pasenyuk to find lobbyists in the United States. I myself have repeatedly taken part in negotiations with American companies and I know that when selecting lobbyists there is no tender held - just someone advises someone to someone. Ben Barnes was advised to Pasenyuk,” Bondarenko claims.
But at the same time, according to the expert, the Ukrainian administration overpaid for the services of this company. "In general, $100 thousand a month is the average amount of a contract of this kind. But, for comparison, Paul Manafort, a former consultant "Party of Regions", took less from Ukrainian politicians for his services than Barnes,” says Bondarenko. In his opinion, Ben Barnes’ closeness to the Clintons and the US Democratic Party played a key role in the choice of a lobbying company by Poroshenko’s people.
But now this is already in the past. And the Presidential Administration, as we see, is looking for lobbyists in the Republican camp. Considering that Kiev previously relied too heavily on Hillary’s team and helped it with all its might (including in terms of discrediting Trump adviser Paul Manafort), the task of building bridges with the team of the new US President is extremely urgent for Poroshenko.
Makar Paseniuk is a Ukrainian investment banker who has led numerous successful and high-value mergers and acquisitions, debt restructurings and capital raising transactions. His story is the story of an undeniably talented professional and specialist of the highest level. Who, by coincidence, chose to do business with different people, regardless of their political color. So only business has outgrown
in reputational difficulties. Which, again, says little about Paseniuk’s personal and professional qualities.
Together with the head of the NBU Valeria Gontareva and Konstantin Stetsenko, they founded the ICU company. Now Pasenyuk is a financial adviser to President Petro Poroshenko, although he resolves issues for the president that go far beyond the orbit of finance. It is unlikely that he defines tasks and goals. Rather, the co-owner of ICU is a talented performer.
Not much is known about him - the investment banker prefers to avoid publicity. Pasenyuk graduated from the 12th grade at the Alexandria School for Boys (USA, Virginia). Then he entered Boston University, but there was no opportunity to complete his studies - he returned to Ukraine and received higher education at the capital's International Christian University.
Makar began his career in the investment field back in 1997, when at the age of 20 he got a job in the Kiev office of the English bank Caspian Security. Then he moved to the London bank ING, which opened in Ukraine. At that time, the second person in the Ukrainian representative office of the bank was Valeria Gontareva, who dealt with issues of securities and investment banking. Apparently, that's how they met.
Pasenyuk spent 2002-2006 in the London office of ING - he oversaw transactions taking place in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2006, he returned to Ukraine and headed the investment banking division of the Ukrainian ING.
In 2009, Pasenyuk went to work for the ICU company he and his colleagues at ING created.
How the ICU was created and worked with the Yanukovychs
The financial group “Investment Capital of Ukraine” (ICU) was created by Valeria Gontareva, Makar Pasenyuk and Konstantin Stetsenko. The company is engaged in trading operations, investment banking and asset management.
The decision to create a company came in 2005. At that time, Gontareva, Pasenyuk and Stetsenko were colleagues at ING Bank. As they said later, the Dutch did not allow Gontareva to head the Ukrainian ING, and she decided to start her own path in business.
So in 2006, a financial company appeared, which immediately made a loud statement among financiers. In a short period of time, ICU, with its office opposite the Opera House in Kyiv, became one of the leading organizers of bond issues in Ukraine. The extensive connections and rich experience of the founders played into their hands. At that time, Ukraine was on the rise, foreign money was flowing into the country at a crazy pace, and the financial markets were literally booming.
A year later, ICU became one of the leaders in the securities market. And by and large, no one else has heard of ING in Ukraine.
The company's investor, in addition to the above-mentioned partners, was the English hedge fund Autonomy Capital. He owned 25%. The remaining share was proportionally divided between Gontareva, Pasenyuk and Stetsenko. True, already in 2009 the hedge fund’s share was bought out and also divided among shareholders. The project was obviously a success.
With the onset of the crisis, the financial market associated with securities went down. Hardly anyone remembers the once famous “KINTO”, “Socrates” or “Art-Capital”. By and large, only a few of the former leaders remain afloat: Dragon Capital, Concord (in a greatly reduced form).
Surprisingly, ICU did well, and at the height of the crisis even created its own bank, Avangard. The partners found their niches.
The first such niche was transactions with government bonds. Bank treasurers say that the co-founders of ICU closely used (and possibly created) “passing” schemes, when billions of government bonds were passed through several banks, and the profits were deposited where they were needed. State-owned banks were usually used as donors who did not receive a profit. But their employees had a share, so the scheme flourished.
By and large, it is still thriving. Betting on government bonds turned out to be a wise choice. Corporate bonds have died as a class, issuing loans in Ukraine has become impossible and even dangerous, so today banks are engaged in issuing government bonds. .
ICU and its Avangard bank are firmly located in the center of the OVGZ universe. Their business partner in these operations was the Perspektiva trading system, through which most of the transactions of the ICIs go through.
The second niche of ICU was servicing the “shadow” capital of the “family” of Viktor Yanukovych. These operations, of course, were not advertised. According to fragmentary information, ICU (including Pasenyuk and Gontareva) helped invest not entirely legal money in securities in Ukraine and abroad. Government bonds worth $1.5 billion, which were recently confiscated in favor of the state budget of Ukraine, were also purchased by specialists from Investment Capital Ukraine.
By and large, there was nothing shameful in these operations. Yanukovych and his “family” were clients, and ICU were pure businessmen. The shameful thing began in 2014, when the new President Petro Poroshenko suddenly appointed Valeria Gontareva to the post of head of the National Bank of Ukraine.
After the victory of Euromaidan, Ukraine was in dire need of money. Politicians who came to power, including Poroshenko, promised to confiscate the money of Yanukovych and the “family” in favor of the state budget. Who, if not Gontareva, knew where this money was? And who, if not her, did nothing to “expose” this money?
Information that ICU worked with the Yanukovychs appeared publicly much later, when the new head of the NBU began bankrupting “extra” banks one after another. Their owners began to “thank” the banker, who boasted of her reputation. This information did not go beyond the “drain cisterns,” but in the financial community they are quite seriously talking about the fact that Gontareva worked with the “family.”
The same applied to the Russians. This refers to Valeria Alekseevna’s connection with Yuri Solovyov, who is one of the top executives of the Russian state-owned VTB Bank. This connection in 2014-2017 was expressed in the patronage of Russian state banks in Ukraine, and in 2017 it manifested itself in the adoption of completely ineffective sanctions against them.
Officially, after Gontareva’s appointment, ICU has nothing to do with her. In 2014, Valeria Alekseevna left the company, selling her share to Pasenyuk and Stetsenko. In any speeches and interviews, she publicly disowns her former companions.
However, here's what's interesting. Two years after Gontareva left the NBU, ICU became a leader in the government bond market in 2016. It has the largest trading volume and the largest number of contracts.
ICU management explained its annual leadership not by proximity to power, but by changes in the exchange market - until 2014, transactions could be concluded without the participation of a broker, after which this became impossible. Among themselves, financiers, of course, nod towards the NBU. They say that the company (formally) of Pasenyuk and Stetsenko owes its profits to Gontareva.
To be fair, ICU is really professional. Over 15 years of work, Pasenyuk and his team participated in transactions worth almost $10 billion, including $5.6 billion in debt restructuring, $1.4 billion in M&A, and $1.9 billion in equity capital raising transactions.
In 2006, Pasenyuk for the first time brought the Ukrainian agricultural company “Astarta” of Vladimir Ivanchik to IPO. A year later, in 2007, he conducted an IPO of one of the largest domestic agricultural holdings, Kernel.
Kernel founder Andrei Verevsky calls Pasenyuk his advisor in the field of mergers and acquisitions. He owes the growth of his own holding to the investment banker. (Note that after the change of power and the increase in Pasenyuk’s influence, Kernel’s affairs also went up, including thanks to the support of Vitaly Khomutynnik).
For these and other transactions in the agricultural sector, Pasenyuk is sometimes called an “agricultural investment banker.” True, his largest transactions were not in the agricultural sector. They were the restructuring of the debts of Donetskstal ($850 million) and Azovmash ($750 million).
Kyiv Pasenyuk Makar Yurievich Managing partner, one of the founders of the ICU financial group. http://site/dossier/Makar-YUrevich-Pasenyuk/
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Biography
Education
He graduated from the Alexandria School for Boys in the USA.
Bachelor of Business Administration from International Christian University.
Master's degree from the Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadim Getman, specializing in international business management.
Certified Financial Analyst (Certified Financial Analyst). Graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business, Executive Leadership Development course.
Career
In his first year of study at the International Christian University, he became a columnist for economic and financial news in the English-language magazine Eastern Economist.
In 1997, at the age of 20, he received a position in the Kiev division of the English investment bank Caspian Securities. The first three months he works for Caspian Securities for free, after they refused to hire him. Based on the results of his work, he was assigned to a full-time position.
Caspian Securities is a project of Christopher Heath, a British investment banker and founder of Barings Securities. Specialized in emerging markets.
After the closure of the Caspian Securities branch in 1998, Pasenyuk received a job in the Ukrainian representative office of ING Bank (Netherlands). There he specializes in researching Ukrainian issuers (equity research). A year later he heads the securities management department.
In 2000, Paseniuk was involved in the restructuring of Ukraine's external debt, which amounted to $2.7 billion.
In 2002 he received a position in the London office of ING. In the Corporate Finance Department, Paseniuk oversees transactions for clients from Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2006 he returned to Kyiv and continued working at ING Bank Ukraine. Heads the corporate finance division and becomes managing director of the bank.
Under his leadership, major transactions are being implemented at the bank: the first Ukrainian IPO on the London Stock Exchange (developer XXI Century, 2006, AIM) and the Warsaw Stock Exchange (agricultural holdings Astarta - 2006, Kernel - 2007)
Coordinates the takeover of the mobile operator UMC by the Russian telecommunications company MTS, conducting a financed buyout and private placement of shares of Soyuz-Victan, a manufacturer of alcoholic beverages.
In 2009, Makar Pasenyuk and his colleagues from ING bank Valeria Gontareva and Konstantin Stetsenko established their own investment company - the ICU financial group.
In 2014, Gontareva left ICU, selling her share to Pasenyuk and Stetsenko. Pasenyuk and Stetsenko become the majority shareholders of the group.
ICU
The company quickly makes itself known in the financial markets of Ukraine. Works in the segments of trading domestic government bonds (OVGZ), support of large investment banking transactions and asset management.
According to the Cbonds news agency, ICU is the leader of the government bonds market in Ukraine. In 2019, the financial group had more than $500 million in assets under management. The group employs more than 100 specialists.
The ICU market share in terms of the number and volume of transactions occupies approximately a third of the Ukrainian exchange market. The company is also one of the largest traders in the over-the-counter market, according to Cbonds.
In February 2014, ICU entered the banking market and acquired Avangard Bank JSC.
In February 2017, the National Bank recognized ICU and Avangard Bank as a banking group. In addition to the bank and LLC “Investment Capital Ukraine”, it includes: LLC “AMC “Investment Capital Ukraine”, LLC “AMC Apinvest” (administrator of pension funds), JSC “Closed non-diversified corporate investment fund “Investment Capital - Stable Growth”, NGO "Open Pension Fund "Dynasty", JSC "Closed Non-diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund "Restoration", JSC "Closed Non-diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund "Infinity Profit", JSC "Closed Non-diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund "Adventura".
Major ICU transactions implemented under the leadership of Makar Paseniuk:
· public offering of the Industrial Dairy Company on the Warsaw Stock Exchange;
· debt restructuring of industrial enterprises Azovmash and Donetskstal;
· placement of bonds of Swedbank, Credit Agricole, ProCredit Bank;
· takeover of agricultural holdings Allseeds Group and Mriya;
· private placement of shares of telecom operator Data Group.
Together with his team, Paseniuk is involved in the largest restructurings in Ukraine totaling more than $2 billion. Under his leadership, transactions to attract equity capital were also completed - amounting to more than $1 billion.
ICU is also called the largest group in Ukraine in terms of assets under management. She successfully manages pension and investment funds, in particular with a specialization in distressed assets and venture capital.
At the end of 2017, the assets of investment and pension funds managed by ICU grew 2.6 times, exceeding UAH 3 billion. The funds' assets at the end of 2018 amounted to UAH 3.5 billion. This is one of the highest indicators on the Ukrainian market.
ICU is becoming a leader in the non-state pension provision market in terms of the volume of assets under management and their profitability. In particular, the first place in terms of profitability on the Ukrainian NPF market is occupied by the Dynasty pension fund, which is managed by the group.
The group also manages international funds. These are the CIS Opportunities Fund, focused on the markets of the CIS countries, and the Global Opportunities Fund, aimed at global markets.
ICU is also a venture capital investor. Part of the investment was directed to Ukrainian companies to support promising technological developments. For example, the group invested in Petcube, a startup that develops and sells devices in the connected pet segment for pet owners. She also invested in Hideez, a company that created an electronic key fob - a digital key. She invested in 3D-Look, which has developed a technology for instantly constructing a 3D model of a person from a photograph, taking into account real dimensions.
Investments in projects range from 200 thousand to 1 million US dollars. In the venture capital market, ICU pursues a late seed and A round investment strategy. Basically, the group does not support young startups, but projects that have already declared their viability.
In 2018, together with the American fund VR Capital Group, ICU invested in Ukrainian “green” energy - in the construction of a solar power plant in the Khmelnitsky region (total investment amounted to $55 million).
The Kamenets-Podolsk solar power plant is one of the largest investment projects in Ukraine, which will reduce the annual volume of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by 67 thousand tons. This will significantly support Ukraine’s national course towards energy independence and reducing the volume of harmful emissions into the atmosphere. According to the 2015 Paris Agreement, by 2030 Ukraine must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40%.
The solar power plant was designed and built in 7 months. The general contractor of the construction is the Ukrainian company KNESS. More than half of the components for the station were made in Ukraine. Among solar power plants built on the territory of the state, Kamenets-Podilskaya ranks second in size.
The peak power of the station is 63.8 MW, and the annual electricity generation is 68.2 GW/year, which should provide electricity to a third of households in Kamenets-Podolsky.
The Podolskenergo company, which manages the station, undertakes to annually allocate 2.6 million UAH to the budget of the village. Panovtsy. These are rental payments for the use of the land plot on which the solar power plant is located. This will make the company the number one local taxpayer.
The ICU Group, together with VR Capital Group, plans to launch other projects in the segment of alternative energy sources.
ICU awards (according to Cbonds, Acquisition International, World Finance, Investfunds, Bloomberg):
1. The best fixed income fund in Ukraine in 2008–2011, 2013–2015.
2. Best underwriter of Ukraine 2011.
3. The best asset management company in Ukraine in 2012 and 2016.
4. World's second-largest multi-strategy fund by return: CIS Opportunities Fund in 2012
5. Best Sales on the bond market in 2013–2012, 2015
6. The best investment bank in Ukraine in 2015–2018.
7. The best analytics on the Ukrainian bond market in 2015–2017, 2010–2011.
Patronage, educational activities
In 2017, Pasenyuk and Stetsenko initiated ICU cooperation with the Kyiv School of Economics, Vox Ukraine and VISA to establish the Center for the Improvement of Economic Journalism (CEJE). In the future, ICU remains one of the main sponsors of the Center.
The main goal of CEJE is to improve the level of economic education of journalists and editors writing about economics, finance and business. Employees of leading Ukrainian media, representatives of the regional press and television and radio broadcasting are trained.
Over the two years of the existence of CEJE, more than 150 people have been trained there. These are employees of Interfax-Ukraine, Radio Liberty, LigaBusinessInform, ICTV and other well-known publications and television channels.
Makar Pasenyuk is also one of the patrons of the CFA community in Ukraine. On his initiative, every year ICU acts as the main partner of the student competition CFA Research Challenge. About 200 Ukrainian students from the largest universities in the country participate in the competition. Students gather in teams, prepare and defend investment reports based on the example of well-known local or global companies. The 2018 finalist received additional financial support from ICU in the form of a targeted scholarship.
In 2014, ICU founded the Ukrainian Financial Forum, which it holds annually.
Experts from global financial markets, including China, the USA, and the UK, come to the forum. Forecasts about the immediate prospects for global economies are shared with participants. Representatives of the Ukrainian government and local large entrepreneurs talk about the consequences of global financial processes for Ukraine, and voice plans for reforms in their areas.
During the existence of the forum, the following took part in it:
· Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics Keiyu Jin;
· one of the most famous business journalists in the world - former editor of the British magazine The Economist Edward Lucas;
· ex-Minister of Finance of Greece Yanis Varoufakis;
· Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester, formerly CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Narayan Kocherlakota;
· founder of the British investment company Ashmore Group Jerome Booth;
· Head of the IMF Representative Office in Ukraine Josta Ljungman;
· ex-Minister of Finance of Hungary Lajos Bokros.
In 2015, ICU established ICU Business Books. This is a publishing project that gives Ukrainians timely access to world economic and business literature. . At ICU’s own expense, books are translated into Ukrainian and published.
The list includes literature that has won international awards or has received recognition from the business community. ICU specialists themselves select suitable literature. “The Plutocrats” by Chrystia Freeland, “From Zero to One” by Peter Thiel, “Conversations with my Daughter about Economics” by Yanis Varoufakis, “Modern Theory of Money” by Randal Ray and other books have already been translated and published.
In August 2014, the investment company Rothschild, in consortium with ICU, was selected to prepare and organize the sale of the Roshen Corporation, owned by the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. There were no buyers for the asset, which both investment companies explained by the instability of the political and economic situation in Ukraine. In this regard, on January 14, 2016, an agreement was signed according to which Petro Poroshenko transferred his share in the Roshen corporation for management to an independent blind trust of the Rothschild Trust company. According to Pasenyuk, this is where his work with the President’s assets ended.
In the spring of 2016, citing their sources, the media reported that Makar Paseniuk was among the contenders for the post of head of the Presidential Administration. Pasenyuk himself did not comment on this information. Subsequently, Igor Rainin was appointed to this position.
With Makar Pasenyuk, a partner of the Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) company, training like “Finance for Dummies” is much more effective. Rarely smiling and juggling with special terms, 37-year-old Pasenyuk begins his answer to any question with criticism: “Illiterate formulation.” This is followed by a detailed explanation of the theory. Only after making sure that the interlocutor understands everything that is being said does the financier answer the question asked. “I try in every possible way to educate journalists,” he notes without a hint of irony. Pasenyuk reluctantly agreed to talk about himself, and not about another deal that was well known to him: “Bad karma.”
More likely, excessive modesty. During his 15-year career as an investment banker, Paseniuk took part in transactions worth $9 billion. These included debt restructuring for $5.6 billion, M&A for $1.4 billion, transactions to raise equity capital for $1.9 billion. It was Paseniuk who opened Ukrainian agricultural holdings have access to money from foreign investors. In August 2006, he participated in the first IPO of the domestic agricultural company Astarta. In 2007, under the leadership of Pasenyuk, the IPO of the Kernel agricultural holding took place. The latter has become one of the largest landowners in Ukraine (cultivates about 400,000 hectares of land) and a leader in the production of sunflower oil thanks to numerous acquisitions. “Makar participated in almost all of our transactions,” says Kernel founder Andrey Verevsky (No. 12 in the Forbes ranking with a capital of $667 million). “He either managed them or I brought him in as an adviser.” The agricultural sector and FMCG account for about a third of the projects implemented by Pasenyuk, for which he is called an agricultural investment banker among financiers and business owners. He himself does not agree with this definition. “Agriculture is a large sector of the economy, and many transactions have taken place in it over the past eight years,” he says. “But this is not the main direction of my work.”
“Makar has excellent expertise in the agricultural sector and FMCG,” says colleague, investment banker Sergei Alekseenko, about Pasenyuk. - But his largest transactions took place in other industries: debt restructuring of Donetskstal ($850 million) and Azovmash ($750 million). Makar is a universal banker.”
“Why are investment bankers needed? Why are people willing to pay for our services?” - Having seized the initiative from the Forbes journalist, Pasenyuk himself asked questions that worried him and answered them almost without pause. So, what is the essence of an investment banker? Firstly, he must do his best...
...strive to make money
Paseniuk has his own definition of an investment bank. This is a team of people with a good education and a broad outlook that works for results. Their income, unlike consultants and lawyers who are paid hourly, depends on the result, and not on the amount of time worked.
Pasenyuk dreamed of becoming an investment banker since the seventh grade. “I didn’t know this word then, but I understood that in the future I wanted to work in finance,” he recalls. He was inspired by Theodore Dreiser's Trilogy of Desire, which he read at the age of 13, which tells the story of the dizzying career of financier Frank Cowperwood. However, at the multidisciplinary Kiev Lyceum, Pasenyuk initially chose the medical field. “While studying yet another cell theory, I realized that, firstly, medicine is also an art, and secondly, you can’t earn decent money in it, especially without humiliation,” says Pasenyuk. He transferred from medical to economics and devoted himself to finance.
Pasenyuk graduated from 12th grade at the Alexandria School for Boys (USA, Virginia). Having entered Boston University, he took a sabbatical and returned to Ukraine - his family did not have the opportunity to pay for his education in the States.
As a result, Pasenyuk received his higher education in Kyiv - at the International Christian University. In his first year, he worked as a columnist for economic and financial news in the English-language weekly Eastern Economist. In 1997, an office of the English investment bank Caspian Securities, created by one of the highest paid investment bankers, Christopher Heath, opened in Kyiv. 20-year-old Pasenyuk saw this as an excellent chance to lay the foundation for a future career and asked to be hired. The refusal he received from the bank did not frighten him, and he offered to work for free for a while. Three months later, Pasenyuk was already a full-time employee with a good salary. In 1998, Caspian curtailed its activities in Ukraine, part of the team moved to the London bank ING, which then opened an office in our country. In his new position, Pasenyuk was engaged in analysis of Ukrainian issuers (equity research) - mainly in the energy sector. A year later, he moved to the depository department, and later headed the securities department of the Ukrainian ING Bank. “From time to time, my London colleagues from an investment bank involved me in various projects,” shares Pasenyuk. “And I became more and more immersed in this area.”
Among the largest transactions of that period in which Pasenyuk took part were the restructuring of Ukraine’s commercial external debt in the amount of $2.7 billion, the sale of large stakes in a number of regional power companies, the acquisition by MTS of the Ukrainian mobile operator UMC, etc.
From 2002 to 2006, Pasenyuk worked in the London office of ING, overseeing transactions in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of his clients, however, were from Ukraine. “I only spent weekends in London, and worked in Kyiv from Monday to Friday,” recalls Pasenyuk. In 2006, he decided to move back and upon his return headed the investment banking division of the Ukrainian ING.
Universal Banker
“A deep analytical mind, enormous capacity for work and constant self-education are Makar’s strengths, which made him one of the best investment bankers in the country,” NBU head Valeria Gontareva, who met Pasenyuk at ING in the early 2000s, characterizes his former colleague. Verevsky notes that Pasenyuk at the beginning of their cooperation had three advantages over other investment bankers. “Firstly, he well understood all the nuances of the Ukrainian market, which employees of international banks could not boast of,” Verevsky lists. - Secondly, he knew how foreign markets work, which was something that specialists from Ukrainian investment companies lacked. Thirdly, he worked in a world-famous bank, and this was a powerful argument for foreign investors during the Kernel IPO.
Pasenyuk returned to Ukraine with a name, a long list of transactions in his portfolio and a pool of regular clients, the number of which was growing steadily. Because, having learned to make money, he learned well the second task of an investment banker...
…increase clients’ capital
How does a good investment banker differ from a mediocre one? “A good investment banker is a professional who, behind a complex set of words, or “artistic whistling,” as one of my clients says, is able to understand the business model and decompose it into simple mathematics,” notes Paseniuk.
He has three basic rules: focus not on the volume of transactions, but on their quality; do not lie to yourself and the client; Constantly study and read a lot so as not to fall out of the loop.
“I divide transactions into those that ultimately helped the client achieve his goals, and those that did not bring him any benefit,” Paseniuk emphasizes. “Another thing is that often a person himself cannot formulate his goal or changes it several times during the work on the project.” This is clearly seen in the example of IPOs. Many of his clients treated the IPO as the first and last deal in their lives. “An IPO for them is the digitization of what they built,” explains the investment banker. “But it should be different: placement is the beginning of a new path, an opportunity to grow further.”
Founder of the Kernel agricultural holding Andrey Verevsky: “Makar and I have always complemented each other”
He is impressed by clients who can “calculate their business on a napkin” and clearly formulate what they want to achieve. Verevsky is one of these. According to the owner of Kernel, an investment banker and a businessman must work in tandem: the first one advises, the second one makes decisions. He and Pasenyuk formed such a tandem. As one example, Verevsky cites Kernel’s takeover of Allseeds in 2010. The amount of the deal, which allowed his company to double the production of sunflower oil, amounted to $220 million. “This purchase was risky, complex and multi-stage, there were legal proceedings,” recalls Verevsky. - Makar definitely guided me, and I already made a decision: were we taking risks or not. We complemented each other."
Many investment bankers hold on to a potential client with both hands, afraid of missing out on possible earnings. Pasenyuk, according to Alekseenko, is one of the few in this market who is ready to refuse a deal if he does not see the point in it or the client is not ready to listen to his opinion. Alekseenko knows what he's talking about. He participated in many transactions with Pasenyuk. During one of them, the preparation for the IPO of the development company KDD Group in 2007, they almost came to blows. We argued about the price range. “He is not a bully or a boor,” Alekseenko says about Pasenyuk. “He’s just very straightforward and makes a clear argument.”
Lev Partskhaladze, the founder of the XXI Century company, whose IPO was led by Pasenyuk in 2005, especially remembered this trait. “Makar is clear, constructive and firm in his convictions,” characterizes Partskhaladze. “If he argues, it is not in order to emphasize his importance, but in order to conclude a deal as fairly and honestly as possible.” He strives for partnership, not one-sided gain.
Pasenyuk, as a rule, simultaneously conducts seven to ten transactions. Each lasts a minimum of nine months. Most often they close at the end of the year or on New Year's holidays. The habit of conducting several transactions at the same time helped Pasenyuk painlessly survive the transition from ING to the ICU company created by him, Konstantin Stetsenko and Valeria Gontareva. According to him, ICU was created for asset management. “In fact, all three of us were tired of doing what we were doing before,” comments Paseniuk. “We wanted to raise about $500 million under management.” But the crisis did not allow this plan to be realized. The maximum that was achieved - $100 million - was not satisfied with the partners, and everyone returned to their old occupation. Pasenyuk, in particular, to investment banking. He headed the department of the same name at ICU. There were no problems with clients: throughout the period during which the launch and marketing of ICU took place, he continued to work on the transactions started at ING.
“I’m impressed by clients who can calculate their business on a napkin.”
During the interview, Pasenyuk drinks strong coffee every now and then. The day before, he discussed the next project with the client until the night. After sleeping for a couple of hours, I went to meetings again. Considering that letters from his work email can arrive at midnight and at four in the morning, we can assume that he lives by the principle “eight-hour sleep was invented by lazy people.” Pasenyuk calls himself a maximalist and admits that this is not his best trait.
The perfectionism and meticulousness of the ICU partner is also noted by his subordinates. “Under any circumstances, he tries to maintain his brand and be the best, and he demands the same from his employees,” states former ICU analyst Pavel Bidak. - Makar wants you to go beyond classical finance and give him something non-pop. If you haven’t done enough work somewhere, Makar turns into a beast.” Paseniuk doesn’t let his team or himself get away with it. Even on Friday he is dressed in a formal suit and a snow-white shirt.
“You can ask Makar for information on any professional issue, and you won’t have to hear in response that now he will call the analyst and come back with an answer,” says Gontareva. “He will immediately explain to you the entire sector of the economy in which you are interested, using facts and figures, and share his vision and forecasts.” Pasenyuk’s knowledge is highly valued by his clients. Verevsky notes that in the case of M&A transactions, an investment banker is useful mainly as a carrier of information. “Makar knows what is happening in the industry, what is being bought or sold,” says Verevsky. - For example, I don’t see this because I’m busy with my work - management, operational issues. They won’t just come to me and tell me that there is an opportunity to make a profitable deal. Makar monitors the market, sees and hears everything.” In addition, according to the businessman, there are practically no problem-free takeovers in Ukraine. Without Pasenyuk it would be difficult to accomplish them - he always quickly finds non-standard solutions to problems.
“I don’t like to come to meetings unprepared,” says the investment banker. “To be in demand, you must be a bearer of the latest knowledge, technologies and understand what you are talking about with a person.”
ICU was created for asset management. They wanted to raise about $500 million
Pasenyuk’s ideal working day looks like this. No more than four meetings. Two of them before lunch. After lunch - reading reports, specialized literature and news, monitoring the work of subordinates, time for analysis and “thinking”. Two more meetings - after 17:00. It was like that before. Now the circumstances have changed. After Gontareva left the NBU, Pasenyuk was given additional responsibilities and representative functions. In addition, ICU has big plans, and Paseniuk, as the head of the investment committee, is directly involved in their implementation. The company is actively developing three funds: the Bond Fund (Ukraine) worth 300 million hryvnia, the CIS Opportunities Fund (CIS) worth $200 million, and the Global Opportunities Fund launched a month ago for $10 million.
Despite this workload, Paseniuk is satisfied: “I love what I do, and I consider my work a well-paid hobby.” As a child, while still studying in a “medical” class, Pasenyuk wanted to help people in the future. According to him, this is exactly what he is doing now. Because the third function of an investment banker...
...to be a psychoanalyst
This applies to a greater extent to M&A transactions. It's not every day that businesses are bought or sold. One way or another, this is stressful for businessmen. There should be someone nearby who will listen and give advice. “Investment bankers help clients feel more confident when making difficult decisions,” Paseniuk insists. “This is a psychoanalyst with a deep understanding of finance.” No matter what level a businessman is, in reality there are not many people around him with whom he can consult. According to Pasenyuk, it is psychologically very important for the owner to have an unbiased opinion of a third party. “Business sellers think irrationally - they have attachments and desires that affect the sobriety of decision-making,” Paseniuk is convinced. The investment banker may exploit this weakness not to benefit the client, but simply to make money for himself. They rarely return to such bankers. “The best indicator of professionalism in our business is the implementation of several projects for one client. Any banker strives for this,” says Yuri Astakhov, director of the investment banking department of Dragon Capital. Pasenyuk’s clients often become his friends. “Makar has always regarded our cooperation as long-term. He is flexible, the first place for him is not money, but human relationships,” emphasizes Verevsky. For an investment banker, long-term cooperation also has benefits. “Working with me, Makar learned a lot,” continues Verevsky. “At first, he didn’t fully understand the industry and strategic nuances: for example, which companies and why I was attracted.”
Like many investment bankers, Paseniuk recommends Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle by John Rolfe and Peter Troub for those new to the field. He himself is thinking about writing a similar one about the Ukrainian market, and hopes that it will not be a story of failure.