You're reading: Voice of America: Ukraine Central Bank presses for exit of Kremlin-owned Banks

Voice of America: Ukraine Central Bank presses for exit of Kremlin-owned Banks

Published Feb. 8, 2017 at 9:46 am

The National Corps Party graffitied VTB Bank on Pushkinska Street on Feb. 3 in protest of subsidiaries of Russian banks operating in Ukraine. Ukrainian activists on Feb. 2 protest the presence of Russia’s Sberbank in Ukraine.The protesters urged depositors to withdraw their money from the bank as part of a national protest against Russian-owned banks in Ukraine. Russia has been waging war against Ukraine for nearly three years, after invading and illegally annexing the Crimean peninsula.

Photo by Pavlo Podufalov

The Ukrainian central bank is stepping up efforts to edge Russian state-owned commercial banks out of the local market, though that process should be gradual to avoid disruptions, one of its deputy chiefs said on Feb. 7.

Five Russian state-owned banks operate in Ukraine, including three in the top 20, and they hold a combined market share of 8.6 percent.