The loan portfolio of Ukrainian banks in April 2021 grew by 1.7%, to UAH 1.076 trillion, and the volume of non-performing loans (NPL) – by 0.8%, to UAH 425.88 billion, according to reports posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
According to its data, the share of non-performing loans in the banking system in April fell from 39.93% to 39.57%.
The National Bank indicated that over the month the portfolio of loans in the corporate sector increased by 1.9%, to UAH 807.408 billion (including the NPL volume in it – by 0.8%, to UAH 369.615 billion), and the portfolio of loans issued to individuals – by 1.6%, to UAH 218.678 billion (NPL – by 0.7%, to UAH 52.289 billion).
At the same time, the volume of interbank loans increased by 0.6%, to UAH 39.388 billion (including NPL decreased by 0.1%, to UAH 980 million), while the volume of loans issued to state and local authorities decreased by 3%, to UAH 10.909 billion (NPL remained at 0).
According to the National Bank, in April, the share of NPL in the portfolio of loans provided to the corporate sector decreased by 0.5 percentage points (to 45.78%), loans to the population – by 0.2 percentage points (to 25.28%), interbank loans – by 0.2 percentage points (to 2.49%), and loans to state authorities remained at the level of 0%.
The central bank report indicates that the loan portfolio of state-owned banks excluding PrivatBank in April 2021 increased by 0.2%, to UAH 299.733 billion (the NPL volume in it increased by 1.8%, to UAH 131.15 billion), while PrivatBank’s loan portfolio grew by 0.4%, to UAH 246.337 million (NPL remained at the level of UAH 177.99 billion).
In addition, over the month, the loan portfolio of banks with foreign capital grew by 3.5% (to UAH 352.736 billion), and with private capital – by 2.6% (to UAH 177.577 billion), while the NPL volume in them decreased by 0.6% (to UAH 93.55 billion) and by 1.7% (to UAH 23.2 billion).
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky at the Ukraine 30. Ecology forum signed a bill on limiting the circulation of plastic bags on the territory of Ukraine, which the Verkhovna Rada adopted on June 1, into law.
“Five hundred. This is how many packages every Ukrainian uses a year. Twenty minutes. This is how much we use this package on average. More than 100 years. This is how long one package decomposes and a few seconds – to sign a law,” the president said, according to the press service of the head of state.
The document regulates the circulation of plastic bags and should stimulate the development of the production of biodegradable bags.
In particular, the law prohibits the free distribution of plastic bags (except for biodegradable) in retail and catering. Plastic bags should be provided for money only. At the same time, retail prices for such packages cannot be lower than the minimum prices set by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
In addition, mandatory labeling of biodegradable bags is envisaged and fines are set for violating these norms.
The document comes into force on the next day after its publication and will be effective six months from the date of entry into force, with the exception of some of its provisions.
In March-May this year, the authorized banks issued 351 loans under the Affordable Mortgage 7% program for a total of UAH 297 million, the Finance Ministry has said.
“As of May 31 of this year, authorized banks for the implementation of the Affordable Mortgage 7% program signed 351 loan agreements for a total amount of UAH 297.3 million, both on the primary [24.28%] and secondary [75.72%] housing markets,” the Ministry of Finance said in a message on its website on Monday.
According to its data, the largest number of applications comes in a regional perspective from Kyiv (36%) and Kyiv region (28%).
Over the past week, the number of issued loans increased by 15%, and the amount of loans by 17%, while the growth of applications in terms of amount and number was 7%, the ministry said.
Some 14 banks are authorized to work under the Affordable Mortgage 7% program. It has been operating since March 1, 2021.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed that public servants are obliged to submit a declaration about contacts with oligarchs included in the relevant register.
According to president’s bill No. 5599 on the prevention of threats to national security associated with the excessive influence of persons with significant economic or political weight in public life (oligarchs), a public servant, after contacting an oligarch or his representative, must fill out a declaration of contacts on the official website of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
According to the bill, a contact is a meeting and conversation, including online meetings and conversation, about anything.
At the same time, persons included in the register and their representatives are obliged to inform public officials about the fact that information about themselves or the persons they represent has been included in the register before the meeting or a conversation.
The obligation to submit a declaration of contacts applies to the President of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, his deputies, MPs, the prime minister and deputy prime ministers, the minister and his deputies, the head of the SBU and his deputies, the prosecutor general and his deputies, the governor of the National Bank and his deputies.
The declaration of contacts is also required to be filled out by judges of the Constitutional Court, judges, the head of a permanent subsidiary body created by the president and his deputies, chairmen and members of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting, the Antimonopoly Committee, the Accounting Chamber, the Central Election Commission, the High Council of Justice and other state collegial bodies.
Among the officials required to submit a declaration of contacts are the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and his deputies, the heads of the State Property Fund, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention and their deputies, directors of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigations, Bureau of Economic Security and their deputies.
In addition, among the declarants are the Verkhovna Rada commissioner for human rights; civil servants holding civil service positions of A category; heads of local state administrations, their first deputies and deputies; servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations who have been awarded the highest military rank; persons of the commanding staff of law enforcement agencies and employees of other bodies who have been awarded the highest special rank.
According to the bill, violation of the obligation to submit a declaration of contacts is the basis for bringing a person to political or disciplinary responsibility.
The declaration of contacts shall contain information about the persons who submitted the information, about the oligarchs included in the register and their representatives, with whom there was contact, the date and place of the conversation and its brief content.
The transitional provisions to the bill indicate that the law will be limited to 10 years. Also, according to the transitional provisions, the Cabinet of Ministers shall, within three months, bring its regulations in line with the law after its entry into force, as well as ensure that ministries and other central executive bodies bring their regulations in line with the law.
The full transition of all medical institutions of Ukraine to medical reports on temporary disability will take place from September 1, 2021, and a transitional model for the introduction of sick leave e-certificates will be in effect until August 31, Minister of Health Viktor Liashko said.
“This means that from June to August, medical institutions will fill out both medical reports on temporary disability and issue paper certificates. The decision on the type of document that is issued to the patient to confirm his temporary disability will be made by the doctor in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Health,” Liashko wrote on his Facebook page on Friday evening.
The minister said that the order on some issues of medical reports on temporary disability and their verification has already been signed and passed the examination of the Ministry of Justice.
“Patients no longer have to run to the hospital for a paper sick leave certificate, take it to work to record the fact of temporary incapacity for work, and employers will get away from paperwork with the Pension Fund and the Social Insurance Fund in processing sick leave payments to their employees,” the minister said.
On 30 April 2021, Ukraine announced the successful settlement of its new $$1.25 billion eurobonds due 2029 placed with a yield of 6.875%.
“The proceeds were transferred to the account of the State Treasury of Ukraine and will be used for general budgetary purposes,” the ministry said.
According to the report, the notes will be admitted to trading on London Stock Exchange’s main market on 4 May 2021. This is an inaugural listing of Ukraine’s sovereign bonds on London Stock Exchange. Earlier Ukraine’s notes were listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.
The ministry said that the notes were issued with a yield of 6.875%, receiving bids in excess of $3.3 billion from 223 investors. The investor base of the new issuance was dominated by asset managers, which accounted for 84% of the notes issued and followed by hedge funds (9%), insurance and pension funds (5%) and banks (2%).
Investors from the United Kingdom, the United States and continental Europe generated the majority of demand in the new eurobond’s primary offering with 42%, 34% and 21% of allocations, respectively. Investors from Asia and MENA amounted to 3% of the allocations.
BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International and J.P. Morgan acted as joint bookrunners.
Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa said that despite returning to the fiscal consolidation path, Ukraine’s financing needs are still high compared with the previous years. As a part of our debt management strategy, the decision was made to cover most of those needs from the local market and in national currency.
“Having successfully implemented this strategy in Q1, we returned to the international capital markets after their stabilization in order to cover part of our FX needs for this year. We are glad that in the less favorable market environment for the emerging economies, markets still remain accommodating for issuers with a track record of prudent fiscal and monetary policies and proactive engagement with the investor community,” he said.
