The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has adopted a resolution to revoke its banking license from October 10 and liquidate the insolvent Sich Bank, the regulator’s press service reported on Thursday.
The corresponding decision was made by the resolution of the NBU Board No. 495-rsh dated October 6.
As reported, on August 10, 2022, the NBU board decided to classify Bank Sich JSC as insolvent due to the financial institution’s failure to fulfill its obligations to the NBU on refinancing loans within the time period established by the agreement due to insufficient funds.
The message on the regulator’s website also notes that Sich Bank did not pay interest on refinancing loans for July 2022, violating the terms of the general loan agreement concluded between the bank and the National Bank.
Each depositor of Sich Bank will receive compensation from the DGF in the full amount of the deposit, including interest accrued as of the end of the day preceding the day the procedure for withdrawing the bank from the market begins. In general, the possible amount of payments of the guaranteed amount to depositors as of July 1, 2022 is UAH 1.229 billion.
Bank “Sich” was founded in 2011. According to the bank’s website, as of January 1, 2022, its shareholders were Oleg Balanda (55.615%), Valery Razdorozhny (31.016%), Andrey Melnik (9.6257%) and Oleg Gubanov (3.7433%).
The profit of Ukrainian banks in January-July 2022 decreased by 10.8 times – to UAH 3.4 billion, the press service of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on Tuesday.
According to the regulator, the income of banks for 7 months of this year increased by 26% against the figure for the same period last year – up to UAH 189.082 billion. Including commission income increased by 20.5% to UAH 112.374 billion.
At the same time, the result from the revaluation and from purchase and sale operations was positive and amounted to UAH 27.214 billion, while for the same period last year it was negative and amounted to UAH 409 billion.
At the same time, the expenses of the banking system in January-July 2022 increased by 1.68 times compared to this indicator in 2021 – up to UAH 185.675 billion, including deductions to reserves – by 12.3 times, up to UAH 73.56 billion . At the same time, fee and commission expenses increased by 1.87% to UAH 18.8 billion,
As reported, Ukrainian banks doubled their net profit in 2021 to UAH 77.5 billion compared to UAH 41.3 billion in 2020.
Alfa-Bank Ukraine, at the request of Interfax-Ukraine, confirmed that the remote meeting of the bank’s shareholders scheduled for August 12 had taken place and its decision to change the name of the bank to a new one – JSC Sense Bank will be made public next week.
“When the board decided on a new brand, the decision became obvious. For the last two years, our priority has been the development of the Sense SuperApp digital bank. Our bank has always been technological. This feature is now reflected in the name,” Chair of the bank’s Board Alla Komisarenko is quoted in the response.
The financial institution said that the meeting was one of the key stages in the legal procedures for changing the name, and the next step would be the registration of a new charter.
As previously noted in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, ex-Minister of Finance of Bulgaria Simeon Djankov, who in the middle of April, in agreement with the National Bank, was given the right to vote in the majority stake in Alfa-Bank, the board of the financial institution decided to abandon the Alfa brand and continue working under a new brand.
“A few days after the start of the war, the board decided to abandon the Alfa-Bank brand. The bank does not want to have anything to do with the aggressor country, even at the level of associations and the brand that operates in Russia,” Djankov said, explaining the reasons for the renaming.
According to the bank, its largest shareholders at the moment indirectly are Andrei Kosogov (40.9614%, after the war he received packages of German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev, who fell under the sanctions in the amount of 20.9659% and 16.3239%, respectively), Mykhailo Fridman (32.8632%), Petr Aven (12.4018%), UniCredit S.p.A. (Italy, 9.9%), Mark Foundation for Cancer Research (3.8736%). Djankov is a trustee of the NBU on the packages of Kosogov and Fridman and Aven, who fell under the sanctions.
Alfa-Bank Ukraine, according to the NBU, as of July 1, 2022, ranked seventh in terms of total assets (UAH 104.03 billion) among 68 banks operating in the country. The bank’s net loss, according to the National Bank, amounted to UAH 2.35 billion.
The seventh package of EU sanctions will include Russian gas and an expanded list of banks, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said.
“The seventh package of sanctions against Russia is our priority. The EU has already begun work on it. New restrictions should apply to Russian gas and expand the list of banks that will be disconnected from SWIFT, in particular, Gazprombank,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. on Saturday evening with reference to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland, Pavel Yablonsky.
For the period from mid-March to April 13, Ukrainian banking institutions provided loans to farmers under the state program to support the sowing campaign-2022 for a total of UAH 5.43 billion, including loans and portfolio guarantees for the week of March 6-13. UAH 3.64 billion
The relevant data on the financing of the sowing campaign in the context of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine was published on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on Thursday.
“In fact, over a week, loans were issued for more than UAH 3.6 billion for more than a thousand farmers. Banks took a rather fast pace to cover the needs of our agricultural producers, who are now undergoing a sowing campaign. Today, agricultural loans can be issued by 22 Bank, and the goal of the state is to increase lending to the agricultural sector up to UAH 40 billion, that is, almost eight times more,” the department quotes its head, Mykola Solsky.
It is specified that 80% (UAH 4.41 billion) of the provided borrowed funds were portfolio guarantees, while 2.08 thousand agricultural producers received access to financing in total (1.18 thousand in the last week).
Most of the loans for the sowing campaign were attracted by the agrarians of Kirovohrad region – UAH 1.81 billion (+UAH 1.4 billion for the week), Vinnitsa region – UAH 944 million (+UAH 579 million), Dnepropetrovsk region – UAH 738 million (+UAH 471 million), Odesa – UAH 549 million (+UAH 388 million) and Lviv – UAH 348 million (+UAH 189 million) regions.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, loans up to UAH 60 million under this program are issued at 0% per annum (under the state financial support program “Affordable loans 5-7-9%”). The term of such lending is up to six months, and after its completion, the interest rate for borrowers will be 5% per annum. Agrarians falling under the definition of an agricultural producer can use the loan.
“Ukraine understands its defining role as a guarantor of the food security of the world, so we must harvest to feed ourselves, and also prevent food shortages and hunger in the world,” Solsky summed up in the message of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
The agency recalled that the government program to support the sowing campaign is being implemented by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, the National Bank and the banking sector.
As reported, at the end of March, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine expanded the procedure for issuing guarantees for agricultural producers on loans on a portfolio basis for the purchase of the resources they need for the sowing campaign in 2022, since due to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, part of the farmers lost working capital for carrying out spring work.
Thus, within the framework of portfolio lending to agricultural producers, they will be able to obtain loans for the purchase of fertilizers, plant protection products, pesticides and agrochemicals, fuel, spare parts for agricultural equipment, as well as for replenishment of fixed assets and intangible assets, wages, rent of real estate and movable property, works and services for its operations.
The total budget of this program to support the 2022 sowing season is UAH 50 billion.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he instructed the National Bank, deputies and officials to find an opportunity to guarantee 100% of deposits of Ukrainians in banks.
“This is a special task for the National Bank of Ukraine, for people’s deputies and our officials. I instructed to find such a legislative opportunity that the state would guarantee 100% of deposits in banks. 100%. Not part, as it is now, as usual, but in full. The entire deposit. In any bank of our state. So that people do not lose money and are not afraid of it under any circumstances. So I am waiting for specifics. A draft decision. And I hope that the Verkhovna Rada will not be slow in providing support. Because Ukrainians need it. Ukraine needs it,” he said in a video message on the night of Thursday.
In addition, according to him, “the Cabinet of Ministers will vote tomorrow for a large-scale reduction in regulations.”
“There were more than 600 permits and licenses for business, and about 20 remain mandatory. Only those that simply cannot be cancelled. Like, for example, the management of radioactive waste,” Zelensky said.
According to him, the government has already prepared a decision to expand the lending program for entrepreneurs on the basis of the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program.
“Any business will be able to get a loan at 0% during martial law plus one month after the war. Then there will be a minimum rate of 5%. And the total amount of the loan can be up to UAH 60 million. To widen the circle of those businesses that can use our program “, the president said.
