Raiffeisen Bank has allocated UAH 40 million for the project “Zahystok: Bezpechna Osvita” (Bezpechna Osvita) launched by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE Institute) and the KSE Foundation to provide school shelters for 30,000 school children.
“The full-scale war violates one of the main rights of children – to get an education,” the bank’s press service said in a statement on Thursday.
It is pointed out that the Zahystok project was created by the KSE last September and includes activities ranging from physical sheltering in schools to creating innovative educational programs in the robotics, AI and STEM industries.
According to the KSE website, the project has raised $1.4m against a stated goal of $3m. Farmak, FUMB, Dragon Capital, OKKO and Kyivstar are also among the benefactors.
During the project period more than 8 thousand school and pre-school pupils returned to their desks, while the KSE Charitable Foundation increased its goal from 100 to 300 equipped stores across the country and plans to return another 10 thousand schoolchildren to their schools by September 1 this year.
The basic condition for schools to be allowed to return to offline classes is the availability of a shelter that meets KSE’s requirements. The KSE Foundation installs modern shelters in accordance with all sanitary and safety standards.
It is specified that everyone who cares can join the collection. You can make a contribution in your personal Raiffeisen Online cabinet in the section “Payments/Assistance to Ukrainians” or at the KSE Foundation website.
For their part, each school without a secure vault for students may file an online application to set up a vault on the KSE’s website.
Since the beginning of the war the KSE Foundation has raised $50.4 million for various projects.
Raiffeisen Bank is planning to send its profits for 2022 less dividends in the amount of UAH 1.572 billion to the bank’s reserve fund.
According to a report in the system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), the relevant decision will be considered at the remote gathering of the bank’s shareholders on April 28.
It is pointed out that the bank plans to deduct UAH 700 th from the profit for 2022 to pay dividends to the owners of the bank’s preferred shares before sending them to the reserve fund.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, Raiffeisen Bank on the size of assets as of January 1, 2023, was in 5th place (187.26 billion UAH) among 67 operating Ukrainian banks.
Raiffeisen Bank’s profit for January 2023 was UAH 742 million, up 62% from the same period in 2022 (UAH 457 million), the bank’s press service said Thursday.
According to the report, the bank’s income in January amounted to 1.8 billion UAH, which is 1.6 times more than in January 2022 (1.1 billion UAH).
Including net interest income amounted to 1.4 billion UAH, or 78% of the total income.
It is indicated that the fee and commission income increased by 28% up to UAH 270 billion, indicating the growth of client operations, including remote service channels.
The trade result grew by 30% year-on-year and made up UAH 124 mln.
Besides, in January the bank allocated UAH 380 mln. to provisions for possible credit and operational risks caused by war, that is 4.7 times more than a year before.
The share of NPLs in the loan portfolio of the bank by the end of January was 14.8%, while the loan portfolio decreased slightly to UAH 72 bn.
According to the message, funds of corporate clients in Raiffeisen Bank increased by 6 billion UAH to 61 billion UAH, and funds of individuals – by 1% to 6 billion UAH.
It is noted that half of the 300 operating branches of Raiffeisen Bank are equipped with generators and backup communication channels.
The fall of the Ukrainian economy in 2022 will be about 33% according to the baseline scenario, in which the war will last for another month and a half at the most, Alexander Pecheritsyn, a leading analyst at Raiffeisen Bank (Kyiv), said.
“If the war lasts until the end of the year, then (GDP) could fall as much as 45%,” he said at a zoom conference on Tuesday.
Pecheritsyn specified that this is the bank’s third forecast since the beginning of the war. According to him, the initial decline in the economy was estimated at about 15% based on previous fast-moving conflicts in the world, for example, in Georgia. Then, in March, the bank estimated a decline as low as 24%, taking into account the gross regional product and the map of hostilities. In particular, as part of this analysis, a 34% decrease in this year’s crop is expected.
Serhiy Kolodiy, Chief Manager for Macroeconomic Analysis at Raiffeisen Bank, recalled that in 2014-2015, the fall in GDP was approximately 25% compared with pre-war Ukraine (in official statistics, data are compared only for controlled territories).
Pecheritsyn added that in terms of GDP, the bank estimates a 39% drop in private consumption due to the emigration of 15% of the population, lower incomes and negative consumer expectations.
According to him, domestic investment, which is the most vulnerable component, will fall by half this year under the baseline scenario.
“On the positive side, production relocation programs have little effect, but on the scale of the total output, of course, it is small,” the analyst said.
Speaking about inflation, Pecheritsyn noted that the bank still maintains its forecast for this year at 17% after 10% in the past. He explained that the volume of purchases by the National Bank of military bonds in the amount of UAH 60 billion is still within the limits of controllable, in addition, state control over prices and the freezing of utility tariffs affect.
In general, speaking about the work of analysts during the war, Pecheritsyn said that the bank began issuing weekly military reviews.
“War is a new challenge, we are no strangers to them, since there was a coronavirus two years ago. But the current (challenge) is much more difficult,” he stressed.
Pecheritsyn until February of this year served as chief economist at Credit Agricole Bank (Kyiv).
As reported, according to the World Bank, which before the war expected the Ukrainian economy to grow by 3.2% this year, it will fall by 45.1%. According to his report from early April, in 2023 the Ukrainian economy is expected to recover by only 2.1%, which is also worse than previous expectations of 3.5%.
The National Bank of Ukraine predicts a decline in the country’s GDP this year by at least a third, refusing to make more detailed estimates. The IMF expects a 35% decline.
Raiffeisen Bank (Kyiv) and Raiffeisen Bank Zrt have launched the possibility of exchanging hryvnia cash in Hungary since March 31, the bank’s press service said on Thursday.
“From March 31, Ukrainians who are in Hungary can exchange their cash in hryvnia within the Exclusive Group partner currency exchange offices, ” the message says.
The press service noted that now there is a limit of UAH 10,000 for the exchange of cash hryvnia by one person per day.
Raiffeisen Bank Aval (Kyiv) from June 17 changed its name to Raiffeisen Bank with the changes in the charter and public register, the bank’s press service said on Thursday.
“The name of the bank should be simpler, like everything for our clients: our products and services should be simple. We continue transforming, this is part of our strategy. Moving towards simplicity, we emphasize our belonging to a powerful international financial group,” the press service said, citing Board Chairman Oleksandr Pysaruk.
Raiffeisen Bank continues honoring its commitments to customers as the successor of Raiffeisen Bank Aval.
The bank said that in connection with the renaming, there is no need to contact branches, reissue cards or reissue documents.
Raiffeisen Bank Aval was founded in 1992. As of March 1, 2021, its largest shareholders were Raiffeisen Bank International with 68.27% of shares and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with 30%. Another 1.19% of the shares belonged to other legal entities and 0.54% to individuals.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as of March 1, 2021, Raiffeisen Bank Aval ranked fifth in terms of total assets (UAH 118.336 billion) among 73 operating banks.
