Denis Gorbunenko was born on December 9, 1973, in Donetsk. Has several prestigious higher educations. In 1996, he graduated from the Donetsk State Academy of Management with a degree in Management in the Non-Production Field. From 1997 to 1998, he studied at Oxford Brookes University. He completed his master's thesis on "Foreign Direct Investment as a Means of Entering the Ukrainian Market" and earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.
Denis Gorbunenko started his career in the financial sector over 30 years ago, holding key positions at major Ukrainian banks such as INKO and Kreditprombank, and played a significant role in international operations at Kyiv International Bank. His most notable achievement was transforming Rodovid Bank from a struggling institution into one of Ukraine's largest and most dynamic banks. In 2009, he decided to focus on his own investment projects, including international ventures, and relocated to the UK with his family.
Over the past 15 years, Gorbunenko has actively invested in projects involving private and foreign capital in the UK, with a focus on the financial and banking sectors, as well as real estate and construction. His investment banking firms advise clients on a broad range of issues, from financial planning and strategic asset management to capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, and more. Currently, he supports investment projects at various levels, from strategic oversight to operational management.
Gorbunenko has been repeatedly recognised as the best financier of the year by the all-Ukrainian "Person of the Year" award. He was also shortlisted by the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year ranking in Ukraine. The banks under his leadership received prestigious awards and were recognised as the most dynamic in the all-Ukrainian "MasterCard Bank of the Year" competition. The Bank received awards from the international payment system Visa for "Innovative card programmes" and "Successful development of co-branding projects". Ukrainian magazines Forbes (2007) and Focus (2007, 2008) included Gorbunenko several times in their rankings of the richest people in Ukraine.
Business and Career
Denis Gorbunenko started his professional journey in banking and finance more than 30 years ago as a State Donetsk Academy student. Within the 1992 – 2009 period, he held different positions in the largest Ukrainian banks, specifically, INKO and Kreditprombank. He was also in charge of international operations at Kyiv International Bank, one of the first financial institutions in Ukraine with foreign investment (Rabobank (Netherlands) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development).
A crucial moment in Mr. Gorbunenko’s career started when he led Rodovid Bank and became one of its shareholders. He had an ambitious goal: to turn a weakened local player into one of the market leaders. It took just a few years for Denis Gorbunenko to take the bank to the next level and secure its position among the best financial institutions in Ukraine. Rodovid Bank became one of the major banks in Ukraine and received recognition from different international rankings. In 2009, the banker decided to focus on his own investment projects, including international ones. To do this, Gorbunenko and his family moved to the UK.
In 2012, the financier invested 3 million pounds sterling in the British broker Seymour Pierce. The banker was a creditor and considered the possibility of acquiring a controlling stake in the company, but no acquisition ever took place because the former director sold the asset to a competitor.
In 2013, Gorbunenko invested in the purchase of the Austrian investment group EPIC Invest (hereafter Raga Establishment Limited), which owned the rights to the strategic telecoms asset in Ukraine, UKRTELECOM. In 2018, Gorbunenko's company Raga Establishment Limited was at the center of a legal dispute over the sale of Ukrtelecom to Rinat Akhmetov's assets. In 2020, the dispute ended with the signing of a settlement agreement with a payment in favor of Raga Establishment Limited.
In 2019 – 2020, Gorbunenko tried to buy the Ukrainian bank Sich. The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine allowed the financier to buy shares in the bank, but the banker did not receive permission from the National Bank of Ukraine and the bank was soon withdrawn from the market.
During the last 15 years, Denis Gorbunenko has been involved in a variety of investment projects in the United Kingdom. He focused his interest on banking and finance, real estate and construction. Gorbunenko's investment banking firms offer clients a wide range of topics pertaining to guidance on financial planning, strategic asset management, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, and other related activities. Currently, his involvement in investment projects ranges from strategic oversight to operational management.
Gorbunenko focuses much of his time on real estate development projects, including the acquisition and refurbishment of high-end residential property, as well as the management of premium properties for high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in the UK.
Family
Denis Gorbunenko was born into a family where his father worked in banking and his mother was a doctor. His father Vladimir worked in the State Bank of the USSR. His mother Valentina is a doctor-biologist. He built a strong, happy family and has been married for over 30 years. Together with his wife Elena, he has four children. For a long time he lives with his family in London (UK). The financier is interested in modern technologies and painting, especially works by contemporary Ukrainian artists.