The National Bank of Ukraine’s (NBU) net sales of dollars in the second week of September jumped to $873.1 million from $302.3 million a week earlier, the highest level this year.
According to the NBU’s website, from September 11 to 15, its purchases of foreign currency fell to a meager $0.05 million, while sales jumped from $302.7 million to $873.1 million.
On the cash market, the dollar rose by 20 kopecks over the week, approaching the level of 38.2 UAH/$1. On Monday, Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko said that the draft state budget for 2024 includes an average annual exchange rate of 41.4 UAH/$1.
As reported, in August, the volume of the National Bank’s interventions increased to $2.364 billion from $1.933 billion in July and $1.798 million in June. At the same time, the volume of external financing in August decreased to $1.664 billion, so international reserves decreased by 3.2% to $40.387 billion from a record high of $41.72 billion.
In total, since the beginning of this year, the NBU has purchased $195.9 million in the market, while selling $18 billion 21.8 million.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has decided to cut its key policy rate again to 20% per annum from 22% per annum, effective September 15, in line with market expectations.
“Taking into account the balance of risks, the rapid decline in inflation and the ability to maintain exchange rate stability, the NBU Board has decided to cut the key policy rate to 20% (…) Further slowdown in inflation and the NBU’s ability to ensure exchange rate stability allow the NBU to continue the cycle of rate cuts while maintaining sufficient attractiveness of hryvnia savings. Such a step will support economic recovery and at the same time does not pose a threat to macrofinancial stability,” the central bank said on its website on Thursday.
The NBU noted that price dynamics were better than the NBU expected, primarily due to an increase in food supply, in particular, good harvests contributed to lower prices for cereals, flour, vegetables and some fruits.
“At the same time, the decline in core inflation (to 10% yoy in August) was close to the NBU’s July forecast. The NBU’s measures to ensure the attractiveness of hryvnia assets and the stability of the foreign exchange market played an important role in easing underlying price pressures. In particular, they contributed to further improvement of exchange rate and inflation expectations,” the central bank added.
It is noted that the general downward trend in inflation will continue, but the potential for a rapid slowdown is almost exhausted.
“On the one hand, better harvests will limit price growth in the coming months. The impact of fixing certain tariffs for housing and communal services will also remain,” the NBU explained.
The NBU will continue to ensure the stability of the foreign exchange market to keep exchange rate and inflation expectations under control, which will contribute to a further decline in
On the other hand, the pressure on business costs will be significant due to both war-related losses and rising electricity and fuel prices, which may restrain the slowdown in inflation, the NBU added.
In the future, the NBU expects to continue the cycle of key policy rate cuts, the implementation of which will be consistent with the need to maintain the attractiveness of hryvnia assets as a prerequisite for the stability of the foreign exchange market and a steady decline in inflation.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has applied a measure of influence in the form of temporary suspension of licenses to non-life insurer “European Insurance Group” (EIG, Kharkiv) in connection with non-submission of reports since the end of last year.
As reported by the central bank on Tuesday, the Committee for Supervision and Regulation of Non-banking Financial Services Markets has set a deadline for the insurer to eliminate violations until September 26, 2023.
According to the National Bank, for the first nine months of 2022, the insurer received 2542.2 thousand UAH of insurance premiums and made 39.4 thousand UAH of insurance payments, while the company’s market share for the period amounted to 0.01%.
As reported, on October 8, 2021 the NBU has agreed to Ivan Volkov indirect ownership of 99,998% of shares of ALC “European Insurance Group”. Earlier, on July 6, 2021, a trustee was appointed to this company to manage 99.998% of the insurer’s shares, the ownership of which was indirectly through LLC “Victori-21”.
UGG was registered by the National Commission for Financial Services in August 2016. The authorized capital of the company amounts to UAH 30 mln.
On September 7, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) revoked the licenses of Gestalt Group Insurance Company and INTO Insurance Company (both based in Kyiv) to conduct financial services business.
According to the regulator’s website, the decision was made with respect to Gestalt Group due to the fact that the insurer’s ownership structure does not meet the requirements of Ukrainian legislation, and with respect to INTO for failure to comply with the National Bank’s decisions to eliminate violations of license conditions.
According to the latest financial statements submitted by Gestalt Group Insurance Company, as of June 30, 2023, the company’s insurance premiums amounted to UAH 5,971 million, assets amounted to UAH 81,642 million, and insurance reserves amounted to UAH 1,952 million. The company’s market share in terms of insurance premiums amounted to 0.03%.
According to the latest reports submitted by INTO Insurance Company, the volume of insurance premiums amounted to UAH 28.767 million, the value of assets – UAH 139.178 million, insurance reserves – UAH 18.028 million. The company’s market share in terms of insurance premiums amounted to -0.2%.
The NBU emphasizes that the decisions come into force on September 8. In the event of license revocation, a financial services representative must fulfill its obligations under contracts with clients for the type of financial services specified in the decision, concluded before the date of entry into force of the decision to revoke the license.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has categorized Ukrainian Construction and Investment Bank (Ukrbudinvestbank, Kyiv) as insolvent due to the lack of effective measures to improve its financial situation, the regulator said on its website.
“Since Ukrbudinvestbank was classified as a problem bank on August 4, its financial position has deteriorated significantly, and the management and owners of significant participation have not taken appropriate measures to prevent insolvency,” the NBU said.
He specified that the reason for recognizing the bank as a problem was its failure to comply with the National Bank’s decision to restrict certain types of transactions without reasonable cause.
The regulator noted that the share of the financial institution amounted to 0.04% of the assets of the country’s solvent banks as of September 1, 2023, so its classification as insolvent does not affect the stability of the Ukrainian banking sector.
The NBU reminded that during the martial law, each depositor of Ukrbudinvestbank will receive compensation from the Deposit Guarantee Fund in the full amount of the deposit, including interest accrued as of the end of the day preceding the day of the start of the bank’s withdrawal from the market. As of September 1, 2023, the total possible amount of guaranteed repayments to depositors of this financial institution was UAH 606 million, the press release said.
It is specified that Ukrbudinvestbank is classified as insolvent in accordance with the decision of the NBU Board of September 7, No. 310-rsh/BT.
Ukrbudinvestbank was founded in 2004. According to the NBU, as of July 1, 2023, it ranked 45th among 65 operating Ukrainian banks in terms of total assets (UAH 2.47 billion). Its net profit for the first half of this year amounted to UAH 19.07 million.
According to the financial institution’s website, its largest shareholders are Svetlana Demyanenko (74.93%), Yulia Podgornits and Lyudmila Minevich (9.90% each), and Natalia Shishova (5.27%).
At the end of July this year, Vadym Kachurovsky, who had held the position for almost 11 years, resigned as chairman of the board of Ukrbudinvestbank. His deputy, Natalia Vorobey, was appointed interim CEO until August 2.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has revoked the licenses of Financial Company No. 1 LLC, which ranked 97th in terms of market revenue in the first half of this year.
“The said financial company does not comply with the legal requirements for maintaining the minimum amount of equity capital. This negatively affects its real and potential financial capabilities, in particular, the level of liquidity, solvency, financial stability, and working capital (equity),” the regulator explained its actions on its website.
According to the NBU, the decision was made by the Committee for Supervision and Regulation of Non-Banking Financial Services Markets on August 28 and came into force on August 29.
According to the NBU, Financial Company No. 1 finished the first half of this year with revenues of UAH 14.9 million and a net loss of UAH 7.96 million.
In terms of labor costs (UAH 1.23 million), FC “No. 1” was 87th in the market in the first half of the year, and 403rd in terms of assets (UAH 15.1 million).
According to OpenDataBot, Financial Company No. 1 LLC was founded in August 2013 by Andriy Stepanenko, co-owner of four IT-related companies (IT Nonstop, Finayti, IT Finance, 24. IT) with a registered capital of UAH 8 million.
