You're reading: Oschadbank starts paying compensation to Soviet-era depositors

The State Savings Bank of Ukraine (Oschadbank, Kyiv) has started paying compensation to Soviet-era depositors as planned, from June 1, 2012, the bank's press service has reported.

"Payments will be carried out to those depositors, data about whom was put on the register of depositors before January 1, 2012 and who did not receive compensation funds in 2008 (no more than UAH 1,000 per depositor). One has to undergo a depositors’ data update procedure that has been going on at Oschadbank since April 2, 2012," reads the report.

Oschadbank said that today around 2.5 million of depositors are to upgrade their data, and that 1.5 million of them have undergone the update procedure.

"All branches of the bank where the compensation accounts are kept will pay the compensation – which is around 6,000 branches. Compensation will be paid until December 25, 2012, and over the period Oschadbank plans to service six million depositors," reads the report.

In addition, Oschadbank will pay UAH 500 for funerals for the relatives of persons deceased in 2005-2011 and who did not receive compensation and for those who died in 2012.

The government headed by former Premier Yulia Tymoshenko in 2008, decided to pay up to UAH 1,000 to each depositor of the former Soviet Sberbank. Only half of the depositors received the compensation, following which the program was suspended due to a lack of funds and, as Tymoshenko claimed at that time, because of resistance of President Viktor Yuschenko and parliament.

In her presidential campaign in 2010, which she lost to Yanukovych, Tymoshenko promised to resume the repayment of the depreciated savings and pay the compensations in full within three years – if she won the election.

On March 7, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to ensure the payment in June through December 2012 of up to UAH 1,000 to each of the six million depositors of the former Soviet Sberbank as compensation for depreciated deposits. In April, amendments were made to the 2012 national budget, according to which UAH 6.15 billion was allocated for this initiative.

In addition, Yanukovych instructed the government to continue payments of defaulted deposits in 2013-2015.