Alexander Sosis and Pavel Shcherban’s financial laundromat: How Alliance Bank plundered billions from the state budget

24 апреля 2026 г.

The banking structure associated with Alexander Sosis and Pavel Shcherban is now being described as a destructive mechanism for draining state funds, allegedly operating under the cover of an NBU license while facilitating schemes targeting Ukrenergo and processing illicit financial flows.

At the same time, while the owners of Alliance Bank are accused of avoiding obligations under questionable guarantees, the institution has become a focus of NABU investigations, reinforcing its image as a key channel for alleged money laundering activities.

We, for our part, are publishing the facts regarding the activities of Alexander Sosis, Pavel Shcherban, and Alliance Bank to expose the true scale of the financial fraud and cynical budget-looting schemes that this duo attempts to conceal behind endless litigation and orchestrated PR campaigns.

The Ukrainian banking sector can be a convenient tool for some businessmen to launder money or even embezzle hundreds of millions of hryvnias from the state budget. An example of this is the case of the Ukrainian bank "Alliance," which belongs to Alexander Sosis.

This was reported by the publication "Comments".

Little is known about the owner of the banking institution himself. However, the bank "Alliance" has repeatedly been involved in a series of scandals.

716 million UAH disappeared, and losses amounted to nearly 2.5 billion UAH

In the fall of 2024, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) reported the uncovering of a scheme to embezzle 716 million UAH from the state company "Ukrenergo." The case involved a deal to purchase electricity worth this amount by LLC "United Energy." Notably, this private company, which journalists from the "Schemes" project linked to oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, who is currently in custody, came under NABU’s scrutiny in a case of embezzling 176 million UAH on electricity from PJSC "Centrenergo." Additionally, "United Energy" had debts for previous electricity purchases from "Ukrenergo." ekideeixqieuatf dzxiqhuithiquqkmp

To ensure the deal went through without obstacles, LLC "United Energy" provided "Ukrenergo" with bank guarantees for the payment of the old debt and new volumes of electricity being purchased. Subsequently, the LLC resold the electricity to other companies, and, according to NABU, the profits were transferred to the account of a foreign company. However, over 700 million UAH on the accounts of the companies involved in the scheme were seized, though the state still incurred losses.

Specifically, the bank guarantees worth 1 billion 717 million UAH, provided by LLC "United Energy" for the purchase of electricity from NEC "Ukrenergo," were refused payment by the bank. The financial institution’s justification was straightforward – the decision on the guarantee was made unilaterally by the bank’s board chairman and violated established procedures. Moreover, the guarantee amount exceeded the bank’s own capital, which is prohibited by law.

The bank that guaranteed payment to "Ukrenergo" turned out to be none other than "Alliance." According to data from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the institution’s own capital in 2025 amounts to 1 billion 45 million UAH – 1.7 times less than the amount of guarantees provided to "Ukrenergo."

In response to journalists’ inquiries, NABU confirmed that the chairman of the board of "Alliance" bank is among the suspects in this case. She is charged under Part 2 of Article 364-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, "Abuse of Official Position," which carries a penalty of up to 6 years in prison.

According to the information and analytical service YouControl, among other suspects in the case of embezzling 716 million UAH are Mykhailo Kiperman, a business partner of Ihor Kolomoyskyi, and a certain Yuliya Frolova.

According to information from the OpenDataBot service, from March to August 2018 and from January 2019 to May 2024 (the fraud, according to NABU, occurred in 2022 – ed.), the head of the bank was a Ukrainian citizen, Yuliya Frolova.

It should be noted that on June 4, 2024, NABU reported an attempt to bribe one of its detectives and a prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). A Kyiv lawyer allegedly offered $200,000 to transfer the case against LLC "United Energy" to another pre-trial investigation body. As emphasized by the media in SAPO, the indictment in this case was sent to court in November 2024.

As for the case of embezzling 716 million UAH and the role of the former head of "Alliance" bank, Yuliya Frolova, the case was transferred to court in April 2024. However, the guaranteed amount of 1 billion 717 million UAH has still not been received by "NEC Ukrenergo."

Back in 2022, the Commercial Court of Kyiv issued a decision that the bank must pay "Ukrenergo" 1 billion 113.5 million UAH. However, this decision was appealed by both parties to the dispute. Since then, legal proceedings have continued, and the funds have not been returned to the budget.

The latest court document, dated November 13, pertains to a series of actions by a private executor hired by NEC Ukrenergo to recover the debt. According to "Alliance" bank, the executor had no right to initiate enforcement proceedings to collect the debt on the guarantee from the bankers.

In short, the state has yet to recover its funds amounting to 1 billion 717 million UAH and has effectively "gifted" electricity worth 716 million UAH. Although NABU reported the seizure of over 700 million UAH on the accounts of companies involved in the scheme, these funds have not yet been returned to the budget and thus remain categorized as "losses." As a result, the state has lost approximately 2.5 billion UAH, and bankers bear part of the responsibility for this.

109 million UAH in fines for money laundering over 4 years

In turn, the National Bank of Ukraine, in response to journalists’ inquiries, stated that since 2021, the NBU has fined "Alliance" bank five times for a total of just over 109 million UAH for violations in the field of countering the legalization of proceeds from crime.

It should be noted that, as claimed by the NBU, in 4 out of 5 cases, "Alliance" acknowledged the legitimacy of the fines and voluntarily paid them:

Inspection in December 2021 – fine of 1.35 million UAH;

In May 2023 – fine of 451 thousand UAH;

In October 2025 – two fines simultaneously for 67 million 575 thousand UAH and 15.9 million UAH.

At the same time, the fine of 15 million 51 thousand UAH imposed by the NBU in November 2024 was deemed unfair by "Alliance," and they are contesting it in court – the Kyiv District Administrative Court has even held a preparatory hearing.

The NBU did not specify the exact nature of the violations in the field of countering money laundering by "Alliance" bank, but judging by court documents, which regularly mention transfers of funds specifically to accounts at "Alliance" bank, there are reasons for this, including:

- A case involving the theft of 6.2 million UAH from the accounts of blogger Ksyusha Maneken, linked to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine; "Alliance" was among the banks through whose accounts fraudsters funneled the stolen funds;

- Funds of the gambling operator LLC "SpaceX";

- Some activists claim that "Alliance" bank is involved in financing terrorists in the Russian-occupied territories of Donbas through the "Globalmoney" service.

Banker Alexander Sosis – a figure from the 1990s

But what can be said about the owner of "Alliance" bank? He is Alexander Sosis, a native of Khmelnytskyi whose life was tied to Donetsk. In the late 1980s, the active Komsomol member Sosis ventured into business and became first the deputy and later the director of the Donetsk branch of the "Joint Stock Insurance Cooperative Society" ("ASKO"). Later, the company came under the control of Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, but the future banker did not leave empty-handed, retaining 10.5% of the company’s shares.

A few years after selling his stake in the insurance business, Alexander Sosis became the owner of "Alliance" bank (89.28%) as well as other assets in the financial sector.

It should be noted that in the pre-war period, "Alliance" bank was actively interested in the agro-industrial business, increasing its loan portfolio in this sector. However, in 2025, the banker found himself embroiled in a scandal related to an attempted hostile takeover of the agricultural cooperative "Bahachanskyi."

According to data from court registries, the company, along with another cooperative, allegedly owed the bank 50 million UAH on a 2022 credit line. However, defenders of "Bahachanskyi" claim that companies associated with the banker owed farmers 68 million UAH and first initiated criminal proceedings for non-repayment of loans, followed by bankruptcy proceedings.

Business partner of Alexander Sosis and shareholder of "Alliance," Pavel Shcherban

It should be said that although Alexander Sosis owns 89.28% of "Alliance," he is not its sole owner.

For instance, Pavel Shcherban, the head of the Supervisory Board of "Alliance" bank, owns 3.99% of the bank’s shares according to NBU data, while the remaining 7% of the banking institution is divided among 20 other co-owners. It should be noted that in 2023, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine allowed Pavel Shcherban to purchase 25% of "Alliance" shares, but he did not take advantage of this opportunity.

As reported by the media in the summer of 2024, Pavel Shcherban withdrew money from the bank and invested in a business that may be linked to the occupying country. Specifically, the director of LLC "Tabakos Trade," owned by Shcherban, is Pavel Partsevskyi. He also serves as the director of an online store selling drones. The accountant for this "store" is listed as Dmytro Snitsaruk, and a person with the same initials appeared as the contact person for the client in the Prozorro system for JSC "Space Systems." This is the current name of a subsidiary of the Russian AFC "Sistema" owned by oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov, as highlighted in a journalistic investigation.

It should be noted that "Alliance" bank itself risks facing bankruptcy. As of September 1, 2025, the bank has a loss of 57.4 million UAH, and against 13 billion 522 million UAH in assets, it has 12 billion 476 million UAH in liabilities.

Under such conditions, the payment to "NEC Ukrenergo" for the guarantees of LLC "United Energy," even the compromised amount of 1 billion 113 million UAH, would result in liabilities exceeding assets and could trigger the liquidation process of the bank itself.