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The Grand Chamber of Ukraine’s Supreme Court has scheduled for June 15 ​the next hearing in the criminal complaint filed by the Surkis family against the bail-in of its deposits in the nationalized PrivatBank, Interfax-Ukraine reported on May 6, citing the court’s press service. Recall, on April 27, the court decided to postpone the hearing​ in the case scheduled for that day, citing pressure on its judges via mass media. Later on, the court specified that pressure was applied by – among others – the Prosecutor General, who openly supported the bank (and the government) in the Surkis case. The Surkis family is seeking for the courts to overturn the decision by the state to bail-in their deposits in Privatbank of about UAH1.1bn, which was made after the bank was declared insolvent and before it was nationalized in December 2016. In 2017, first- and second-tier courts ruled in favor of the Surkis family, while the Supreme Court is now hearing Privatbank’s appeal of these lower court rulings. It is widely expected by observers that the court will issue its verdict on the case at the next hearing. The verdict will be important for other lawsuits in, which Ihor Kolomoisky, among the former shareholders of Privatbank, is seeking to overturn the bank’s nationalization (the case in now in an appellate court) and is separately attempting to recover the bank’s shares that he lost as a result (that case is now in a first-tier court).
The Rada approved in first reading a bill to allow Ukrposhta to become a postal bank ​on May 19. At post offices, patrons could open bank accounts, use ATM machines and receive pensions and pay bills electronically. Currently, 37% of Ukrainians do not have bank accounts and cash payments account for 56% of transactions, Ihor Smeliansky, general director of the state post office told the parliament. Over the last five years, one third of Ukraine’s bank branches have closed. Today, there are branches in only 6% of Ukraine’s settlements and ATM machines in only 30%. About half of Ukrainians over 60 do not have access to banking facilities.
8.2 ​Central Bank policy rate
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) disclosed more details of its April 23 decision to ​cut its key policy rate by 2.0pp to 8.0%​ i​ n the minutes of its monetary policy committee meeting published on May 4. They revealed that all ten committee members unanimously spoke for the further softening of monetary policy.
The committee members heavily discussed the current and potential impact of the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine restrictions on Ukraine’s economy and global commodity markets. The quarantine restrictions constrained business activities, negatively affected production, employment and personal income. The committee members agreed that fiscal and monetary support is needed for economic recovery.
The NBU’s officials noted that the current situation considerably differed from previous crisis episodes. The initial shock, which includes the situational hryvnia appreciation and panic buying of some consumer goods, was moderate and short-lasting. The NBU believes that the clean up of the banking system, fiscal consolidation, floating exchange rate and more proactive monetary policy were the factors that helped to withstand the shocks effectively.
52​ UKRAINE Country Report​ June 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com