The reduction of the debt by USD 2.3bn is due to repayments of the foreign debts. At this, the credit lines of foreign banks to local representative banks were converted into equity contributing to the abovementioned amount, explains the regulator.
In 2014-2015, Ukrainian banking system lost a third of its banks due to conflicts with Russia and many structural misbalances accumulated during last decade. As of present, foreign capital markets are closed for Ukrainian banks, due to low credit ratings. The banking sector will remain unprofitable in 2016, according to NBU.
