PKO Bank Polski, Poland’s largest bank, is considering acquiring a state-owned or privately owned Ukrainian lender as it seeks to expand beyond the western part of the country and Kyiv, management board chairman Jakub Karnowski said, reported Ukraine Business News.
The Polish banking group aims to strengthen its presence in Odesa, Kharkiv and Poltava, where its Ukrainian subsidiary, Kredobank, currently has a limited footprint.
“That is precisely where we want to be, as we aim to become a truly nationwide bank in Ukraine,” Karnowski said.
No acquisition target has been identified. State-owned Sense Bank has previously been mentioned in market speculation as a possible candidate, but Karnowski did not confirm whether PKO Bank Polski was interested in the institution.
Any potential transaction would depend on the Ukrainian government’s willingness to sell state-owned banks during the war or on private owners’ decisions to dispose of their assets.
PKO Bank Polski has owned Kredobank for more than 20 years. An acquisition could accelerate the subsidiary’s expansion by giving it access to an established customer base, branch network and other banking infrastructure in regions where it currently has a limited presence.
At the end of 2025, PKO Bank Polski reported total assets of 583bn zlotys, equivalent to about €138bns, and net profit of 10.7bn zlotys, or approximately €2.5bn.
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