Sense Bank has started cooperation with Export Credit Agency (ECA), which opened an opportunity for exporters to get loans under the insurance coverage of the agency without providing collateral, the press service of the bank said.
According to the information, the new model of interaction provides ESA insurance of risks on export credits, which allows financing foreign trade contracts even in the absence of sufficient collateral on the part of the client. Insurance coverage reduces non-repayment risks for the bank and makes financing available to more Ukrainian exporters.
Sense Bank notes that such support is key in wartime conditions, when businesses face limited access to liquidity and external markets. Export credit insurance provides repayment guarantees, allowing companies to fulfill contracts and maintain their position in international markets.
“Sense Bank continues to expand the range of financial instruments to support Ukrainian businesses. Cooperation with ESA is a strategic investment in the country’s economic sustainability,” said Andrey Sokolov, member of the bank’s Board of Directors.
Ruslan Gashev, Head of the ESA Board, emphasized that the agency is committed to empowering Ukrainian companies despite difficult circumstances. “Even in the most difficult conditions Ukrainian business demonstrates strength. Together with Sense Bank we create opportunities for it to grow – providing trust, financial protection and access to new markets without unnecessary barriers,” he said.
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sense Bank’s long-term ratings at ‘CCC’ (foreign currency) and ‘CCC+’ (local currency) and maintained its viability rating at ‘ccc’, highlighting the gradual improvement in asset quality but also the continuing risks associated with the operating environment.
Sense Bank’s sovereign exposure remains high relative to its assets, with sovereign bonds (13%), NBU deposit certificates (23%), and loans to state-owned companies accounting for the bulk of its assets. Net loans accounted for 35% of assets, of which 43% were in foreign currency. After two years of decline, gross loans grew by 7% in the first half of 2025.
The bank’s third-degree (impaired) loan ratio improved to 35% at the end of the first half of 2025 (from 37% in 2024), with loan loss provisions covering 89% of impaired loans. Stage 2 loans decreased to 9% from 23% in 2022.
Sense Bank remains almost entirely funded by deposits, with retail deposits accounting for 42% of total deposits, which are fully covered by a government guarantee during the war and for three months after its end. Foreign currency deposits accounted for 34% and are mainly backed by high-quality liquid assets. The loan-to-deposit ratio was moderate at 59%, but is expected to increase as lending recovers.
“Despite the constraints associated with the war, Sense Bank has managed to stabilize its performance and improve its asset quality. However, the bank’s vulnerability to the operating environment remains high,” Fitch noted.
Sense Bank, formerly Alfa-Bank Ukraine, changed its name in 2023 after restructuring its ownership and bringing it into compliance with EU and US sanctions. As of September 2025, it ranked ninth among Ukrainian banks in terms of assets, with UAH 154.1 billion (3.9% of the sector’s total). The bank specializes in lending to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses and is regulated by the National Bank of Ukraine.
State-owned Sense Bank (Kyiv) has entered into a multicurrency credit line agreement with OKKO Group equivalent to EUR 20 million, the bank’s press service reports.
According to the terms of the agreement, the funds can be used for both investment purposes and working capital replenishment, and the term of the agreement is 5 years.
Commenting on the event, Olena Gorobets, Sense Bank’s Director of Corporate Business for Industrial Enterprises, noted that providing financial instruments for critical enterprises is one of the priorities of the financial institution.
“Even in today’s challenging environment, our company finds ways to develop and invest in the Ukrainian economy, provide customers with quality fuel and quality service. An important key to this is financial mobility, the ability to freely operate working capital at any time. The new credit line gives us such opportunities,” comments OKKO Vice President for Finance Nazar Kupibida.
As reported, on February 10, Sense Bank launched the grant program “Support for Energy Resilience of Micro and Small Enterprises in Ukraine”, which is being implemented by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and the German government and is being implemented by the German federal company Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH together with the Entrepreneurship Development Fund.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as of December 1, 2024, Sens Bank was ranked 9th among 62 banks operating at that time (UAH 143.56 billion) in terms of total assets. According to them, the net profit of the financial institution for this period amounted to UAH 3.83 billion.
Nationalized Sense Bank (Kyiv) and FUIB (Kyiv) note the demand for the buy now pay later (BNPL) service, which differs from traditional bank installment plans, and allow its introduction in Ukraine in the near future.
“We think that the client has a request for such a product as a purely European BNPL. (…) Therefore, we are now working with two fintechs, studying this model together with them and the possibility of joining them, because they have just implemented the European BNPL model,” said Inna Tiutiun, a member of the Sense board, at the Digital Lending 2024 conference initiated by the Ukrainian Association of Fintech and Innovation Companies (UAFIC) in Kyiv.
FUIB’s Deputy Chairman of the Board Dmytro Polishchuk, for his part, noted that there is “definitely a demand for the service.”
“And the most important thing is that when we talk about BNPL or installment payments, etc., we forget that the key client of this story is the merchant. (…) There is a very high demand from large retailers for this model, so if there is demand, there will always be a supply,” the banker added.
“I think that this year either we or Sense (Bank – IF-U) or someone else … one of us will show something this year. Because there are a lot of ideas, research, experience and a desire to try, because no one in Ukraine has actually tried this (implementation of the BNPL service – IF-U),” suggested Polishchuk.
According to him, FUIB has already tested a large number of customer experiences with full-fledged BNPL models, in particular, the bank’s team has worked out the legal component, which raised certain questions.
“(…) because in fact, BNPL in its purest form is the provision of a short-term loan to a non-bank customer and without onboarding in Diia, BankID, identification, passports. That is, it is not actually a loan, but a payment method with a certain installment plan for several weeks,” explained FUIB’s Deputy Chairman of the Board.
“We are very positive about this story. I think that this year there will be surprises in Ukraine (in the financial services market – IF-U),” the banker summarized.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of February 1, 2024, Sens Bank ranked 8th (UAH 131.89 billion) among 63 banks operating in the country in terms of total assets, while FUIB ranked 6th (UAH 158.86 billion). Sense Bank was among the three leaders in terms of net profit for 2023, it amounted to UAH 5.04 billion, while FUIB’s net profit was UAH 3.96 billion.
The National Bank of Ukraine has approved the head of the board of the nationalized Sense Bank (Kiev), Oleksiy Stupak, selected earlier by the supervisory board of the financial institution for this position following a competition, the bank’s press service said on Monday.
“On February 15, 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine has agreed Oleksiy Stupak as chairman of the board of Sense Bank,” the release said.
As reported, Stupak started his career in 2002 in Pravex Bank, where he was responsible for working with corporate and VIP clients. He then held senior positions at Credit Agricole Bank from 2008.
In June 2019, he joined the Sence Bank team, assuming the position of Corporate Business Director, after which he became the supervisor of Corporate and Investment, SME, which he has been doing until now.
Former Sense Bank CEO Dmitry Kuzmin, who was appointed to this position during the bank’s nationalization at the end of July 2023, resigned by mutual agreement for personal reasons a few weeks after his appointment. Kuzmin’s deputy Yelena Zubchenko, who worked in the Ministry of Finance before the bank’s nationalization, was appointed acting head of the board.
According to the NBU, as of January 1, 2024, Sense Bank ranked 8th among 63 operating banks in Ukraine in terms of assets (UAH 131.2 billion). It was nationalized at the end of July 2023 under a specially adopted law as a systemically important bank with majority shareholders from Russia’s Alfa Group caught up in sanctions. At the same time, the state appointed an entirely new management board and supervisory board.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on Thursday, the penultimate day of trading, weakened the official hryvnia exchange rate by 0.96%, or 36 kopecks, to a new low of 37.98 UAH/$1. According to the NBU rules, this rate will be valid for the remaining days of the year – December 29-31.
The reference value of the hryvnia exchange rate set by the National Bank at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday also decreased by 1%, or 39 kopecks, to 37.9404 UAH/$1.
According to market participants, trading on Thursday was active from the very morning: in the first hour and a half their volume amounted to about $150 million, and transactions even before noon were concluded at the rate of 37.97-37.99 UAH/$1, with offers at the rate of 38.03 UAH/$1.
According to the calculations of the ex-head of the analytical department of Sense Bank Alexey Blinov, the average official rate at the end of 2023 was 36.57 UAH/$1, which is almost identical to the fixed rate, which was in effect for 14 months until October 3 of this year.
The expert specified that the official year-end closing rate for the euro is 42.21 UAH/EUR1.
On the cash market on Thursday, the dollar exchange rate rose even more – by about 45 kopecks, to 38.72 UAH/$1.
The weakening of the hryvnia in recent weeks, the National Bank attributes to the seasonal increase in demand for foreign currency.
As reported, the National Bank’s net sales in November fell to $2.46 bln from $3.34 bln in October and $2.69 bln in September. However, the reduction of external financing to $2.04 billion led to a decrease in international reserves for the fourth consecutive month – by 0.5%, or $187.8 million – to $38 billion 785.2 million.
