ICU GROUP LAUNCHES ONLINE TRADING OF UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT BONDS FOR FOREIGNER INVESTORS

Kyiv, September 18, 2023 - ICU Group, an independent multi-strategy asset management, private equity, and investment firm that specialises in the emerging and frontier markets, today announces the launch of ICU Trade, its online trading platform for trading Ukrainian government bonds, to foreign investors. This development marks a historic milestone in the Ukrainian securities market, offering online access to individual foreign investors for the first time. Non-residents can now register remotely with the broker and engage in buying and selling domestic Ukrainian government bonds, on par with Ukrainian citizens.

ICU was the first broker in Ukraine to introduce trading in government bonds at the onset of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During that period, ICU Group received numerous requests from individual foreign investors eager to support Ukraine by investing in government bonds. However, regulatory and technical constraints prevented such operations at that time. Thanks to the joint efforts between market participants, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), and the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the government bond market is now accessible online to individual foreign investors.

Foreign investors purchasing domestic government bonds through ICU Trade will enjoy the same benefits as Ukrainian clients. This includes waiving the fees for acquiring and securing bonds, matching returns with those available to domestic clients and being exempt from the income tax in Ukraine. For more information on all the terms and conditions, please visit www.online.icu/en/invest/.

Kostiantyn Stetsenko, Co-Founder of ICU Group, commented: "We consider this to be a worthwhile and patriotic project at this crucial time in our history to help our nation. We are grateful to the NBU, the NSSMC and the Ministry of Finance for their collaborative efforts in making it possible to extend these services to foreign investors. We are already witnessing interest from investors from the United States, Israel, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, all of whom wish to invest in Ukrainian bonds. These individuals include representatives of the diaspora and foreigners who share our country’s values and oppose the invasion. We will continue working to expand the community of such investors.”

Please note that the registration process for investors from certain countries may take longer due to differences in the legal framework and mobile operator procedures. ICU Group kindly requests your understanding in such cases and assures clients of dedicated assistance to ensure proper onboarding and trading.

About ICU 

ICU Group is an independent multi-strategy asset management, private equity, and investment firm that specialises in the emerging and frontier markets worldwide. The Group also has a portfolio of venture capital and fintech investments through its venture capital arm, ICU Ventures. ICU aims to provide its clients with superior risk-adjusted returns across a number of asset classes with investment decisions supported by robust macroeconomic and sectoral analyses from an in-house team of research economists. Makar Paseniuk and Kostiantyn Stetsenko are founding partners of ICU Group.