Iryna Starominska, Chairwoman of the Board of JSC “UNIVERSAL BANK,” was named the winner of the “Financier of the Year” category as part of the 30th anniversary nationwide “Person of the Year 2025” program.
Starominska has over 25 years of professional experience, the last 16 of which she has spent in leadership roles in the banking sector. She has headed Universal Bank since 2017.
One of the bank’s key projects during this period was the 2017 launch, in collaboration with the Fintech Band team, of the digital banking service monobank, which operates under Universal Bank’s banking license.
As of early June 2026, the monobank ecosystem had over 10.7 million customers, making it one of Ukraine’s largest digital financial services. The project has also been included twice in CNBC’s “Top 250 Fintech Companies in the World” ranking.
The development of monobank has become one of the most notable examples of the transformation of the Ukrainian banking market, where traditional banking infrastructure has been combined with remote services and mobile financial technologies.
Universal Bank is listed among Ukraine’s systemically important banks. According to information provided by the organizers of the “Person of the Year” program, as of the end of 2025, the bank ranked third in Ukraine in terms of retail deposits and second in terms of its retail loan portfolio, and was also among the top five most profitable Ukrainian banks.
For five years, Starominska has also been ranked among the most influential women in Ukraine’s fintech sector. In her management role, she focuses on the development of digital banking services, the automation of operations, and the implementation of technological solutions for retail customers.
Charitable and social projects remain a separate area of activity for Universal Bank and monobank. According to data provided by the award organizers, from the start of the full-scale invasion through April 2026, the total amount of charitable aid provided by the bank and its team exceeded 497 million UAH.
Of this amount, approximately 386 million UAH was allocated to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military units, and charitable foundations that assist the army. Another approximately 111 million UAH was allocated to cultural and social projects. The bank also participates in charitable initiatives alongside the UNITED24 fundraising platform and other foundations.
Universal Bank operates in the Ukrainian banking market as a universal financial institution serving both individuals and businesses. Since 2017, the bank has been a partner of Fintech Band in the development of monobank. The bank is part of the TAS Group and is included in the list of systemically important banks in Ukraine.
Open4Business is an information partner of the nationwide “Person of the Year 2025” program.
BANK, FINANCE, FINTECH, MONOBANK, UKRAINE, UNIVERSAL BANK, Старомінська
Banks with Ukrainian private capital earned 9.7 billion UAH in net profit during the first half of 2026, with just two banks—Universal Bank and PUMB—accounting for approximately 72% of this group’s total profit, according to data released on August 19 by Opendatabot.
Universal Bank, under whose banking license monobank operates, earned 3.85 billion UAH, while PUMB earned 3.12 billion UAH. Both institutions ranked among the top five most profitable banks in Ukraine for the first six months of the year.
Universal Bank significantly improved its performance compared to the same period in 2025, when its net profit was 2.41 billion UAH. The bank rose from ninth to second place in the all-Ukrainian profitability ranking.
In total, 30 profitable privately owned banks earned 9.86 billion UAH, while nine unprofitable institutions in this group posted a combined net loss of 161.78 million UAH. Privately owned banks’ income tax expenses totaled 9.87 billion UAH.
By comparison, 15 banks with foreign capital generated 11.91 billion UAH in net profit, or 22% of the entire banking system’s total profit. Among them, Raiffeisen Bank posted the highest profit in the first half of the year—3.57 billion UAH—followed by OTP Bank with 1.91 billion UAH, UkrSibbank with 1.85 billion UAH, Citibank with 1.68 billion UAH, and Credit Agricole Bank with 1.53 billion UAH. All five made it into the overall top 10.
Of the 15 banks with foreign capital, 13 ended the first half of the year with a profit. Pravex Bank and the transitional bank UTE Bank posted a combined loss of about 43 million UAH.
The digital bank monobank has eliminated fees for all incoming and outgoing international SWIFT payments for individual and business customers, according to the project’s co-founder, Oleg Gorokhovsky.
“Previously, a SWIFT transfer cost users an average of about 1,000 UAH in fees,” he wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.
According to Gorokhovsky, such payments are currently important for businesses due to the possibility of cheaper procurement, and for individuals—to pay for education, medical treatment, and military equipment.
He added that the bank earned over 11 million UAH per year from these fees.
monobank is a branchless mobile bank founded in January 2017 by former PrivatBank top managers Oleg Gorokhovsky, Dmytro Dubilet, and Mykhailo Rogalsky. The project operates under the banking license of Universal Bank, which is part of the TAS Group (Kyiv).
According to the National Bank, as of April 1, 2026, Universal Bank had issued a total of 29.42 million cards, of which 10.17 million were used for transactions during the month.
Universal Bank JSC has listed a resort complex with a hotel in Yaremche (Ivano-Frankivsk region) for sale on the OpenMarket system (SETAM State Enterprise of the Ministry of Justice) with a starting price of UAH 30.9 million.
“Its location in the tourist center of the Carpathians makes this complex an attractive asset for investors and for business development in the leisure sector,” Roman Osadchuk, CEO of SETAM, is quoted as saying in the press release.
According to the report, the property complex includes two residential buildings under construction with completion rates of 94% and 57%, a residential building with a total area of 113.3 square meters, including outbuildings, gazebos, fencing, and landscaping, as well as a land plot measuring 0.1582 hectares.
The auction is scheduled for June 15, 2026. The deposit is 1.547 million UAH.
Universal Bank’s (mono) net profit for January-June 2023 amounted to UAH 1 billion 564.7 billion, which is almost 6.3 times higher than the same period in 2022, according to the bank’s unconsolidated half-year report.
According to the report, in particular, in the second quarter of this year, the bank posted a net profit of UAH 740.65 million, which is almost 2.1 times better than in the second quarter of last year.
It is noted that the net interest income of Universal Bank for the first half of this year increased by 62.6% to UAH 5 billion 517.0 billion, in particular, in the second quarter the growth was 89.6% to UAH 2 billion 763.5 million.
Net commission loss in January-June this year was 2.9 times higher than the loss in January-June 2022, amounting to UAH 611.1 million, in particular, in April-June – by 40.3%, amounting to UAH 381.2 million.
A significant contribution to the improvement of the bank’s financial result was made by the reduction of impairment loss in the first half of this year to UAH 682.1 million, while in the same period last year this figure amounted to UAH 3 billion 753.6 million. According to the report, in the second quarter of this year, the loss on this item amounted to UAH 271.8 million against UAH 2 billion 531.4 million in the second quarter of last year.
Net profit from foreign exchange operations decreased in the first half of this year to UAH 1 billion 923.8 million from UAH 2 billion 395.0 million in the first half of last year, including UAH 806.99 million in the second quarter from UAH 2 billion 75.0 million.
The bank’s total profit for the first half of 2023 reached UAH 1 billion 846.6 million compared to UAH 201.2 million for the same period last year.
According to the report, in January-June this year, the bank’s assets increased by UAH 6.14 billion, reaching UAH 92.71 billion.
This growth is attributed to an increase in cash and balances with the NBU from UAH 19.72 billion to UAH 26.44 billion, loans and advances to customers from UAH 17.8 billion to UAH 22.02 billion, and amounts due to other banks from UAH 2.93 billion to UAH 4.14 billion.
At the same time, investments in securities decreased from UAH 34.35 billion to UAH 30.89 billion.
In the first half of 2023, Universal Bank’s customer accounts increased by 11.6% to UAH 77.43 billion, equity increased from UAH 9.20 billion to UAH 11.05 billion, while retained earnings decreased by 27.5% to UAH 1.56 billion.
Universal Bank was founded in January 1994, in 2016 it became a member of the financial and industrial group TAS owned by Sergey Tigipko, and in 2017 it became a participant. Universal Bank operates a virtual monobank that serves about 7.44 million customers.
According to the NBU, as of June 1, Universal was one of the ten largest banks in the country, ranking ninth among 65 operating Ukrainian banks in terms of total assets (UAH 100.24 billion). At the beginning of June, the bank’s network consisted of 13 branches. The average number of employees in the first half of 2023 was 2168, compared to 2216 as of the end of the reporting period on December 31, 2022.
The net profit of Universal Bank (Kyiv) in January-June 2021 amounted to UAH 1.65 billion, which is 5.7 times more than in the same period of 2020 (UAH 288.614 million).
According to the quarterly reports published on the bank’s website, its net profit for the second quarter of 2021 amounted to UAH 782.255 million, which is 6.3 times more than in the corresponding period last year (UAH 123.96 million).
The bank’s net interest income for the six months increased by 2.2 times compared to the same period in 2020, to UAH 2.2 billion, and net commission income – by 1.5 times, to UAH 1.25 billion.
The bank’s assets in January-June increased by 23.2%, to UAH 41.859 billion, including loans and customer debt – by 1.3 times, to UAH 22.19 billion, and cash and cash equivalents – by 8%, to UAH 4.49 billion.
Universal Bank’s liabilities for the first half of the year increased by 20%, to UAH 37.5 billion, including customer funds – by 18.8%, to UAH 32.526 billion.
The bank’s equity capital in January-June grew by 1.6 times, to UAH 4.3 billion, while the charter capital remained at the level of UAH 4.309 billion.
Universal Bank is part of TAS Group of businessman Sergiy Tigipko, which was founded in 1998 and has assets in financial and industrial sectors, agriculture, real estate, pharmaceuticals and venture projects. In addition to Universal Bank, the financial sector of the group includes TAScombank, two insurance companies, and a number of other organizations.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of June 1, 2021, Universal Bank ranked 11th in terms of total assets (UAH 42.96 billion) among 73 banks operating in the country.
