Ūkio Bankas was a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

based in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. More than 50% of shares are owned by Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov who therefore was in the control of the bank. It was the fifth largest and oldest private bank in Lithuania. In October 2006, during an internet conference on the news portal Delfi.lt Vladimir Romanov announced his plans to sell his shares to the strategic investor. GE Money, a branch of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

, as one of the possible buyers was mentioned by Romanov. In common with other banks Ūkio Bankas suffered from the effects of credit crunch and on 26 August 2008, rating agency Standard & Poor downgraded the banks status from stable to negative. The organisation sponsored the Lithuanian football club FBK Kaunas and the Scottish team Hearts. Romanov was the owner of Hearts and a board member of FBK Kaunas. Ūkio bankas has been associated with

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

known as the ŪkioLeaks or Troika Laundromat. Reported by Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) as the Russian Laundering Machine on 22 November 2011, Ūkio bankas used stolen Hermitage Capital Management subsidiaries HSBC Guernsey Ltd, OOO Rilend, OOO Parfenion, and OOO Markhaon to finance through Bristoll, Nomirex and Tormex, Al-Shabaab's Russian weapons built by Ukraine and pro

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

militants weapons transfers from Ukraine. Sergei Roldugin was a client during this money laundering scheme. Arnis Lagzdins was the compliance official at Ūkio Bankas during the money laundering and had previously held the same position at Parex Bank in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

when enormous sums were money laundered allegedly through Parex Bank and its sister firm Overseas Services by

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, Yuri Chaika, and the Russian Mafia including the Tambovskaya Organized Crime Group which looted various governments according to Spanish prosecutors. In February 2013, the bank was revealed to have poor asset quality, weak risk management and a lack of proper operating data. The check also revealed that the bank had ignored the central bank's recommendation to reduce operating risks. On 12 February, the Bank of Lithuania in accordance with Art. 76 of the Law on Banks of the Republic of Lithuania (the “Law on Banks”) announced a partial and temporal restriction on activities (the “Moratorium”) of AB Ūkio bankas. Ūkio bankas was removed from the Lithuanian stock exchange later that month, with many of its assets and liabilities transferred to

Šiaulių bankas Šiaulių bankas is a major commercial bank in Lithuania providing retail and commercial banking services. It has been designated in 2019 as a Significant Institution under the criteria of European Banking Supervision, and as a consequence is dir ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ukio Bankas Banks established in 1989 Defunct banks of Lithuania Banks disestablished in 2013 2013 disestablishments in Lithuania Lithuanian companies established in 1989

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