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Ukrainian National Bank not ready for talks with Russia

MOSCOW, April 02. /ITAR-TASS/. The National Bank of Ukraine is not ready for talks with the Russian Central Bank, the latter’s First Deputy Chairman Alexei Simanovsky said on Wednesday, April 2.

“We are ready to conduct negotiations with the National Bank of Ukraine to discuss the future of Russian banks in Ukraine. But we have not been very successful so far, and it doesn’t depend on us,” the Russian banker said.

“We have the impression that the National Bank of Ukraine is not ready for talks,” he added.

Simanovsky expressed hope that “sooner or later the central banks of Russia and Ukraine will resume normal communication".

 Ukrainian National Bank may sell credit portfolios to Russian banks in Crimea

Ukrainian National Bank Chairman Stepan Kubiv does not rule the sale of credit portfolios of Ukrainian banks in Crimea to Russian banks.

“The National Bank of Ukraine has set up a commission that is not only monitoring the situation but is also taking inventory and determining how to resolve this issue legislatively. Unfortunately, politicians’ statements on nationalisation in Crimea bring in destructive moments. Several days ago, we had a discussion with representatives of Russian banks in Ukraine. There is the negotiated platform and there are the first steps, as we see them, and this platform will be used in accordance with effective legislation,” Kubiv said.

He believes that the situation should be handled at three levels. “The first one is that we have the regional, or Crimean, branch of the National Bank of Ukraine, there is the banking university, there is the training base, and there are premises for cash collection. The second level is the offices and branches of state-owned banks - Oshchadbank, Ukreximbank and Ukrgazbank. Oshchadbank has the largest number of offices and branches - about 300. The third level is commercial banks. Privatbank has the largest number of offices among them all - over 300.There are 1,020 offices in Crimea, there are 53 banks and 11 branches,” Kubiv said.