On March 25 of this year, the President of Uzbekistan reviewed a presentation on the establishment of the Tashkent International Financial Center, the launch of the International Center for Digital Technologies, and the introduction of Islamic finance mechanisms into the banking system.
It was noted that the current geopolitical situation opens up additional opportunities for attracting international capital, and it is important for Uzbekistan to promptly take advantage of this window of opportunity. To achieve the goal of attracting more than $50 billion in investments this year, the focus is on simplifying market access for investors, creating a transparent business environment, adopting international legal standards, and offering additional incentives.
The key areas identified are the development of the financial and digital sectors, as well as the diversification of banking services through Islamic finance. It is expected that the institutions being established will ensure an influx of new types of investment, job creation, export growth, and the improvement of workforce skills. The initiatives include:
Following the presentation, the President instructed that the practical implementation of certain initiatives be accelerated, emphasizing their importance for the development of a modern and competitive economy.
Ukrainian banks in 2021 reduced the number of structural units by 6.3%, or by 449 branches, to 6,685.
According to data on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), in 2021 Oschadbank closed 235 branches (reducing their number to 1,602), PrivatBank – 220 (to 1,497), UkrSibbank – 21 (to 251), Alfa Bank – 17 (to 201), Pivdenny Bank – 10 (to 87), Ukreximbank – 9 (to 53), Ukrgasbank – 8 (268), PIB – 7 (19), Sberbank – 5 (85), Raiffeisen Bank Aval – 4 (to 392).
At the same time, in 2020 banks opened 84 branches, including Accordbank – 28 branches, expanding its regional network to 107 branches, FUIB – 24 (up to 248), Crystalbank – 12 (up to 36), A-Bank – 7 (up to 239), Alliance Bank, CIB and Ukrbudinvestbank – 5 each (up to 30, 43 and 53, respectively).
According to the data of the National Bank, as of January 1, 2022 Oschadbank remains the leader in terms of the number of branches (1,602), the second place is occupied by PrivatBank (1,497), the third is Raiffeisen Bank Aval (392), the fourth is Ukrgasbank (268) and the fifth – UkrSibbank (251).
As in the first half of the year, Prominvestbank (PIB), Albank, Credit Europe and Familny banks, BTA Bank, ING Bank Ukraine, Citibank, Trust-Capital Bank, the Ukrainian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UBRD), CreditWest Bank, Deutsche Bank DBU, SEB Corporate Bank, Alpari Bank, Avangard Bank and Portal Bank, according to the regulator’s data, operate with one open branch.
State-owned PrivatBank topped the list of profit-making Ukrainian banks in 2021, declaring UAH 35.05 billion of net profit, while Pravex Bank recorded the largest loss last year – UAH 266.249 million.
According to the data of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the second position in the list of profit-making banks was taken by Raiffeisen Bank Aval (UAH 4.858 billion), and the third by FUIB (UAH 4.188 billion). According to the results of 2021, the subsidiary of the Russian Sberbank IR Bank (UAH 3.897 billion) is in the fourth position, and Ukrgasbank is in the fifth position (UAH 3.82 billion).
According to the central bank, Unex Bank (UAH 50.355 million) ranked second among loss-making banks, BTA Bank (UAH 32.085 million) ranked third, Ukrainian Bank for Reconstruction and Development fourth (UAH 27.928 million) and Alpari Bank fifth (UAH 6.12 million).
During this period, 66 out of 71 banks operating in Ukraine saw profit.
According to the statistics of the National Bank, in terms of total assets, PrivatBank (UAH 582.851 billion) retained the first place in the ranking in 2021 (UAH 582.851 billion), Oschadbank (UAH 249.938 billion) was second, Ukreximbank was third (UAH 210.029 billion), and Ukrgasbank was fourth (UAH 130.817 billion) and Raiffeisen Bank Aval fifth (UAH 133.651 billion).
The most in-demand specialists in 2021 were specialists in sales, IT, banking and investment, marketing, advertising and PR, as well as transport and logistics, according to a study by the expert-analytical center grc.ua. “The search for personnel during the year has more than doubled,” Ruslana Berezovska, head of the expert-analytical center grc.ua, said.
In particular, vacancies in sales, IT, banking and investment, marketing, advertising and PR, transport and logistics increased from 91% to 174%.
At the same time, specialists in insurance, top management, law, sports, fitness and beauty industries, government service and non-profit organizations were not in demand in 2021.
According to the study, the leaders in the largest number of vacancies are Kyiv city, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, and Kyiv regions.
The top five spheres with the highest average wages included: IT and communication (UAH 54,000), top management (UAH 43,600), consulting (UAH 26,200), construction and real estate (UAH 24,800), and civil service (UAH 23,100).
The top five spheres with the lowest average wages included: tourism and restaurants (UAH 13,200), healthcare (UAH 13,000), initial career (UAH 12,200), working staff (UAH 11,900), and administrative staff (UAH 10,700).
Bank Credit Dnipro intends to acquire the First Investment Bank (PINbank, Kyiv), owned by Russian citizen Yevgeny Giner (88.89% of shares), the press service of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine said on Monday. “By order of the state commissioner No. 09/334-r dated November 23, 2021, case No. 130-25 / 3-20-EK was initiated on concentration in the form of acquisition of the First Investment Bank by Bank Credit Dnipro, which grants that 50% of the votes in the supreme management body of the bank are exceeded,” the committee said.According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as of June 25, 2021, the shareholders of PINbank were also Oleksandr Shandruk with a 9.51% stake.Bank Credit Dnipro was founded in 1993. As of January 1, 2021, according to the National Bank of Ukraine, the only shareholder of the bank was Oleksandr Yaroslavsky.According to the NBU, as of October 1, 2021, Bank Credit Dnipro was ranked 19th in terms of total assets (UAH 19.781 billion) and PINbank 44th (UAH 3.698 billion) among 71 operating banks.
Ukraine intends to prohibit former owners of failed banks from participating in public procurement and privatization until they take measures to pay off their debts to the Deposit Guarantee Fund, according to a memorandum signed between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”We will specifically enumerate measures that can be taken to end the state’s business-as-usual with former owners of failed banks until the latter have taken actions to satisfy their debts to the Deposit Guarantee Fund, for example, by prohibiting former bank owners of resolved banks, their related parties, and entities controlled by them, with legally ascertained debts to the Deposit Guarantee Fund, from participating in public procurement and privatization processes,” the document said.According to it, Ukraine is stepping up its efforts to boost asset recovery from the former owners and related parties of failed banks to reduce the cost of bank failures to Ukrainian taxpayers.”We recognize the need to take a more comprehensive approach to pursue all commercial and legal avenues available to recover assets from failed banks and hold former owners and former managers of failed banks accountable for losses. This comprehensive approach would demonstrate a strong political commitment and provide a consolidated view on Ukraine’s asset recovery strategy, on policy measures that will fix institutional, legal and coordination gaps forestalling recoveries with due attention,” the memorandum said.In addition, it undertakes to ensure the impossibility of interfering with the work on the return of PrivatBank’s assets.The new structural benchmark is to prepare a comprehensive asset recovery strategy paper and action plan, which will be adopted and published by the Cabinet of Ministers by end-February 2022.
