Page 56 - UKRRptFeb19

"Hryvnia household deposits increased 15% last year. Banks are finally doing more lending, with hryvnia household loans up 31% last year," he said. "In addition, we can currently talk about a certain recovery in corporate lending."
8.1.4 Bank news
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has terminated the banking license of Ukrainian operations of Russia's state-owned VTB Bank, which went bankrupt in late November following weeks of a snowballing liquidity crisis , according to the nation's Individuals Deposit Guarantee Fund (IDGF). The IDGF is going enter VTB Bank as a liquidator on December 19. The decision to liquidate the bank was due to the fact that the price for the assets of VTB Bank, proposed by the single applicant, was lower than the estimated value expected by the Fund. Over the last few weeks, the Ukrainian operations of VTB Bank has introduced restrictions on withdrawal of cash in the national and foreign currencies due to a decrease in liquidity caused by September's ruling of the Kyiv court of appeals to freeze the lender's assets, which deprived the bank of the opportunity to replenish liquidity by selling mortgaged property and assets acquired in foreclosure.
Ukrainian banks continue restructuring, cutting the number of branches last year by 10%. Of the net loss of 980 branches, most were closed by three banks: Oschadbank -- 575 branches; PrivatBank – 222; and Ukrsotsbank -- 178. The National Bank of Ukraine lists the three banks, all private, that most increased branches: Alfa-Bank -- 65 branches; TASkombank – 32; and Ukrbudinvestbank -- 20 branches. The banks with the largest branch networks in Ukraine are: Oschadbank – 2,630; PrivatBank – 2,021; and Raiffeisen Bank Aval -- 503.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has filed a claim with the Tribunal de Premiere Instance in Geneva against Ihor Kolomoisky, ex-shareholder of the country's largest lender PrivatBank, nationalised in late 2016, the regulator said in a statement on December 19. "The claim was filed according to the place of residence of the former shareholder," the statement reads. "It aims to collect Kolomoisky’s debt as the guarantor to the NBU under private sureties issued in 2016 in respect of five agreements to provide refinancing loans to the bank." The move followed a de facto victory by the bank's former owners - oligarchs Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Bogolyubov - in a London court, which concluded in November that it does not have jurisdiction over Ukraine's claims against the businessmen, who were challenging the applicability of jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice in London.
The Deposit Guarantee Fund last week sold insolvent banks' assets worth UAH21.26mn , the fund's press service reports. “Last week assets of 17 banks, which are in the management of the fund, were sold for UAH21.26mn ($756,000),” reads the report release on December 4. In particular, UAH4.23mn was received from the sale of creditors’ claims and UAH16.76mn was obtained from the sale of main banks' assets. Also, UAH0.08mn was received from the direct sale of banks’ property, UAH0.20mn - from the sale of other assets.
The Ukrainian subsidiaries of the Russian banks Sberbank and VEB -
under sanction, unable to take on new business and legally barred from transferring assets out of Ukraine — appear to be winding down their operations, the head of Ukraine’s central bank said.The Ukrainian subsidiaries
56 UKRAINE Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com