On 25 July 2008, the INNEX exchange hosted a press conference attended by Ludwik Sobolewski, WSE President, Olena Sklyar, INNEX President, Michail Nazarczuk, Chairman of the INNEX Supervisory Board as well as Michail Zernov, Chairman of the Altera Finance Investment Group Board of Directors.
The meeting focused on the future cooperation of the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the Ukrainian INNEX exchange.
The acquisition of INNEX shares confirms the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s great interest in the Ukrainian capital market, which, as WSE President Ludwik Sobolewski has stressed on numerous occasions, is “a key market for us”.
INNEX President, Olena Sklyar, said that having the WSE as an INNEX shareholder and partner is an opportunity to develop the exchange and bring it to its rightful place in the Ukrainian capital market. The Chairman of the INNEX Supervisory Board, Michail Nazarczuk, added that, by acquiring INNEX shares, the WSE made a logical step towards integration with the global capital market. “Our investment in INNEX is not a random decision. I met here people with great knowledge and understanding of what a capital market is.” – Mr Sobolewski ensured.
The aim of the Warsaw Stock Exchange is to develop INNEX and position it as the leading stock exchange in Ukraine. Mr Sobolewski has mentioned, at the same time, that “Creating an exchange is a very complicated process where not only money is a decisive factor but, most of all, the presence of people willing to make changes”.
Both sides of the transaction are aware that the founding factors and the guarantee of the development of INNEX are creating the interest of Ukrainian companies to enter the capital market on one hand and, on the other hand, making individual as well as institutional investors willing to invest on the exchange and modernise the technical trading infrastructure as well as changing Ukrainian regulations.
The WSE and INNEX assured their willingness to engage in common projects leading to establishing an efficient market in shares of Ukrainian companies. “Time is money on financial markets. That is why we aim to create, in a relatively short time period, an attractive platform allowing Ukrainian investors and brokers safe and effective trading in securities”.
On its part, the WSE will supply the technical system as well as use its own communication network to distribute information about the possibilities of the Ukrainian market across the whole Europe.
The conference was also attended by Michail Zernov, Chairman of the Altera Finance Investment Group Board of Directors, who added: “The INNEX-WSE deal is of historical importance to the Ukrainian market, as it’s the first case of a foreign stock exchange acquiring a stake in an Ukrainian bourse. Altera Finance is a WSE IPO Partner since 2006 and the fact that we have been an adviser to this transaction is very important to us. We believe that a new development stage of the Ukrainian capital market has just begun and the acquisition of foreign investment will contribute to greater activity in the Ukrainian economy”.
The acquisition of INNEX shares was, after opening the WSE Representative Office in Kiev on 25 June 2008, yet another step in developing the cooperation between the WSE and the Ukrainian market.
