After a tumultuous period, the largest banks in Ukraine are beginning to recover and things are looking up.
The 2008-09 Ukrainian financial crisis saw foreign investor lose faith in the Ukrainian economy and the largest banks in Ukraine. Therefore, they sold a lot of shares to Ukrainian businessmen with close ties to the government. These were sold at an extremely low rate.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Afterwards, more instability was created due to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the war in Donbass. As a result of these two events, the country’s economy shrunk by nearly 7%. The annexation of Crimea by Russia did not help matters.
However, since then, things have looked up and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 2017 saw Ukraine’s GDP grow 2.5% year-on-year to hit €97.5bn ($111bn).
Banking assets increased by 6.4% and household deposits grew by 11.4% year-on-year in local currency terms.
The number of loss-making banks decreased over 12 months, from 33 to 18. However, the banking sector was still negative for the year (UAH24.4bn or $909m) due to impairment provisions for nationalised banks and those with Russian state capital.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataSo what are the largest banks in Ukraine?
PrivatBank is currently the largest bank in Ukraine with market share and it holds 26.2% of it. In December 2016, it was nationalised and the government took 100% of control.
At the time, President Poroshenko stated: “It’s obvious that the only way to save the bank and ensure the safety of its clients’ funds is to bring it into state ownership.”
In July 2017, it had its audit licence taken away due to misrepresented financial information.
However, things are improving and in 2018 it reported the largest amount of profit of any Ukrainian bank with $189m.
Oshadbank holds 15.8% of market share currently and Ukreximbank follows with 12%.
Ukraine’s fintech sector is also creating much needed competition and innovation in the market. Furthermore, start-ups from Ukraine raised $265m in 2017.
The most exciting example is Monobank. It went live in November 2017 and the mobile-only bank now has over 450,000 customers. While you cannot send a bank card legally by post, Monobank sends couriers to bridge that gap.
In addition, it offers its customers a 21% interest rate if they walk 10,000 steps every day.
The largest banks in Ukraine still have a lot of work to do. Thanks to external factors, things have not looked promising, but the market is slowly recovering and might still get the interest and investment it once had.
