As part of its 19th package of sanctions, the European Union will impose a ban on transactions with five Russian credit institutions from November 12: Alfa Bank, MTS Bank, Absolut Bank, Zemsky Bank, and NKO Istina, according to an EU statement.
In addition, Belarusian Alfa Bank, Sberbank, VTB, Belgazprombank, BelVEB, as well as VTB’s subsidiary in Kazakhstan and VTB’s branch in Shanghai have been added to the EU sanctions list.
BAN, BANK, BELARUS, EUROPEAN UNION, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, SANCTION, TRANSACTION
The network of bank branches in Ukraine shrank by 21 locations in the third quarter and stood at 4,913 branches at the beginning of October, according to information on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine.
According to its statistics, the reduction amounted to 98 branches over the first nine months of the year.
PrivatBank reduced the most branches in the third quarter—six—which reduced its network to 1,096, but the bank retained second place in terms of their number.
Oschadbank, despite closing five branches, remains the leader in Ukraine with 1,142 locations.
Pivdenny Bank and Radabank reduced their networks by three and two branches, respectively, in July-September, to 37 and 30 locations.
In the third quarter, Ukrgasbank (210 branches), MTB Bank (43), BIZbank (29), Industrialbank (24), MetaBank (21), RVS Bank (13), First Investment Bank (10), and Motor Bank (7) closed one branch each.
Among the banks that expanded their networks in the third quarter, PUMB, Akordbank, TAScombank, Bank Lviv, and Bank Ukrainian Capital opened one branch each—their networks grew to 220, 163, 92, 21, and 12 branches, respectively.
According to the National Bank, as of early October this year, the largest branch networks in Ukraine are traditionally held by the largest state-owned banks—Oschadbank with 1,142 branches and PrivatBank with 1,096. Raiffeisen Bank (321), PUMB (220), and Ukrsibbank (218) followed them at a considerable distance.
The second five in terms of network size were formed by the state-owned Ukrgasbank (210), A-Bank (198), Akordbank (163), the state-owned Sens Bank (137), and Credit Agricole Bank (125).
As of early October, seven banks with state ownership held a network of 2,639 branches, accounting for 53.7% of the total number of branches at the end of the third quarter.
Ukrainian banks earned UAH 95.50 billion in net profit in January-July 2025, which is 1.2% less than in the same period of 2024, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
According to its data, net interest income increased by 14.3% to UAH 151.74 billion, and net commission income increased by 12% to UAH 35.41 billion.
At the same time, the result from the revaluation of government bonds and currency purchase and sale transactions decreased by 28.1% to UAH 17.24 billion, while total administrative expenses increased by 20.8% to UAH 72.24 billion, and other operating expenses by 15.5% to UAH 11.92 billion.
In addition, while banks increased their provisions by only UAH 0.38 billion in the first seven months of last year, they increased them by UAH 4.93 billion in the first seven months of this year.
In July, the net profit of Ukrainian banks amounted to UAH 14.42 billion, which is 1.9% worse than in July 2024. Although net interest income grew by 14.9% to UAH 22.84 billion and net commission income by 18.3% to UAH 5.30 billion, the result from the revaluation of domestic government bonds and foreign currency purchase and sale transactions fell threefold to UAH 1.77 billion.
Therefore, even the release of reserves in July in the amount of UAH 0.24 billion could not prevent a decrease in net profit compared to July last year.
In the overall structure of banks’ income and expenses for the first seven months of this year, the share of interest income increased to 70.8% from 68.7% last year, while the share of interest expenses decreased to 33.6% from 34.5%.
The share of commission income also increased in January-July this year to 21.3% from 21.0% in January-July last year, with the share of commission expenses decreasing to 14.5% from 15%.
At the same time, the share of total administrative expenses increased to 31.2% from 29.9%.
As reported, solvent banks in Ukraine received UAH 103.69 billion in net profit in 2024, which is 24.6% more than in 2023.
Last year, as in 2023, the corporate income tax rate for banks was increased retroactively to 50% for the entire year in the fall, while this year it is 25%.
Bank Lviv (Lviv) has signed agreements with the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Investment Fund (EIF), the Belgian Development Organization for Developing Countries (BIO) and the Bank of the Council of Europe (CoE) totaling EUR 103 million, which will allow it to expand financing to the private sector through credit lines, guarantees and support for micro-entrepreneurs.
“Within the framework of international partnerships, Lviv Bank has signed four strategic agreements with international financial institutions – for a total of more than EUR100 million to support Ukrainian private companies, SMEs and entrepreneurs!” Volodymyr Kuzio, deputy chairman of the bank’s board, said on Facebook on Tuesday.
He noted that Lviv Bank has attracted EUR 60 million from the EIB in the form of a multi-currency credit line, including local currency financing, to improve access to finance for the private sector.
Another EUR 35 million was provided by the EIF in the form of portfolio guarantees, which will reduce collateral requirements for Ukrainian private sector clients to 70% and at the same time strengthen the capital of Bank Lviv.
In addition, the bank will receive EUR 5 million from the Belgian development organization BIO, the first transaction in the institution’s history in Ukraine.
Another EUR 3 million is being provided by the Council of Europe Development Bank to support micro-entrepreneurs across the country.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of April, Lviv Bank ranked 23rd in terms of total assets among 60 operating banks with UAH 14.8 billion, or 0.4% of the banking sector.
Ukrainian banks have started financing projects to install energy equipment with a total capacity of more than 639 MW worth UAH 17 billion from June 2024 to March 2025, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on its website on Thursday, based on a survey of 20 banks.
“Banks received 4,086 applications from businesses for lending to energy infrastructure restoration projects totaling UAH 83.9 billion and started financing such projects (provided loans and opened limits) in the amount of UAH 16.7 billion,” the central bank said.
According to the central bank, the total number of applications submitted in March increased to 207 from 194 in February. However, their volume decreased almost threefold – from UAH 6.7 billion to UAH 2.27 billion, although 95 applications worth UAH 2.28 billion were approved, compared to 70 applications in February worth UAH 0.75 billion.
The number of loans actually disbursed in March also increased – from 94 in February to 118 in March, and the total amount of funding disbursed increased from UAH 0.91 billion to UAH 2.6 billion.
The National Bank clarified that since June 2024, most of the funds have been allocated for the purchase and installation of gas-piston cogeneration units (260 MW), the construction of solar power plants (190 MW) and the purchase of diesel and gasoline generators (128 MW).
According to him, banks also lend to the population: since June 2024, 6,799 loans have been granted in the amount of UAH 936 million, and the gross portfolio of loans to individuals for these purposes, including repayments, is UAH 7189 million.
As reported, in June 2024, with the assistance of the NBU, 20 banks controlling more than 85% of the sector’s net assets signed a memorandum of understanding to finance energy recovery. The lending programs take into account the needs of SMEs and large businesses, as well as households. Businesses can receive financing for the construction of solar, wind, and biogas plants, gas turbine and gas piston power plants, and the purchase of industrial batteries and storage devices.
The base lending rate under the memorandum is 13.5% per annum (or UIRD3M + 0.5% for the first year of financing, and then no more than UIRD12M + 3%).
The net profit of Ukrainian banks in January this year amounted to UAH 16.3 billion, the best figure over the past 12 months, but it is 2.7%, or UAH 0.4 billion, less than in January 2024, the National Bank reported on its website.
According to the information, the banking system’s revenues in January of this year increased by UAH 3.4 billion, or 8.2%, to UAH 45.6 billion: interest income increased by UAH 2.7 billion, or 9.4%, to UAH 31.7 billion, while fees and commissions increased by UAH 0.9 billion, or 11.2%, to UAH 9.2 billion.
At the same time, expenses increased by UAH 3.9 billion, or 15.36%, to UAH 29.3 billion, which led to a decrease in net profit, according to the National Bank of Ukraine statistics. Among other things, interest expenses increased by UAH 0.4 billion, or 4.3%, to UAH 10.4 billion, while commission expenses increased by UAH 0.4 billion, or 13.5%, to UAH 4 billion.
Another factor behind the increase was general administrative expenses, which increased by UAH 1.6 billion, or 21.6%.
The strong financial result is also due to insignificant allocations to provisions, which amounted to less than UAH 0.1 billion in January.
Income tax for January this year amounted to UAH 3.4 billion, which is UAH 0.2 billion or 6.8% less than in January 2024.
