Page 42 - UKRRptJuly18

assets remained 45%.
Ukreximbank’s deposit base increased 5% y/y to UAH90.5bn in 2017. Deposits of the biggest single entity (most likely the State Grain and Food Corporation) stood at UAH26.9bn (down 2% y/y), or 30% of the total deposits (vs. 32% in 2016).
The bank also reported on June 27 that it has paid UAH588mn, or 75% of its 2017 net income (UAH784mn on a standalone basis) in dividends to the government.
The Minsk-headquartered small bank Paritetbank which was controlled by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s administrative affairs department, is trying to buy the Ukrainian operations of Russia's Sberbank for a second time , after a recent rejection by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on its first bid. In March, the NBU attributed its rejection of the first bid by Paritetbank to "the incompatibility of the applicant with the requirements of the legislation of Ukraine," the NBU said in a statement on March 27, without elaborating. In late 2017, Paritetbank said that it is "highly assesses the potential of [Ukraine's] Sberbank in the context of the goals and tasks facing the management for the development of the banking business". However, some Minsk-based market experts attribute the controversial move to the possibility that Lukashenko is acting in the interests of German Gref, Russia's Sberbank head. Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev, the authoritarian president's confidant and one of the richest businessmen in Russia, could be a mediator in the deal, they say.
8.2 Central Bank policy rate
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has kept its key policy rate unchanged at 17% since the last decision in May due to the fact that "the current monetary conditions are sufficiently tight to bring inflation to its medium-term target.”
The move followed the central bank's April decision to keep its key policy rate unchanged. In March, the regulator increased its key policy rate by 1 percentage point (pp) to 17% .
According to the NBU, inflation continued to decline in April-May 2018, as projected by the central bank. Specifically, headline inflation decelerated to 13.1% year-on-year last month. "This was a minor deviation from the NBU’s latest forecast, caused by the most volatile components and likely to vanish in the coming months," the regulator's statement reads.
"In line with the NBU’s preliminary estimates, inflation is expected to decrease markedly in May, reflecting both statistical base effect and a significant drop in food prices. The NBU’s tight monetary policy continued to contain the underlying inflationary pressure," the regulator added.
42 UKRAINE Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com