Levels of foreign ownership vary widely among the banks of the eastern Black Sea countries. While foreign-owned banks went too far, too fast before the crisis, they may be more resilient than locally owned players in a downturn.
Central & eastern Europe
Latest articles from Ukraine
Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus dominate CIS banking landscape
May 4, 2011In the past decade, foreign investment and natural resources wealth have transformed the banking landscape in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Banker's latest ranking for the region shows which countries have benefited the most from this change.
Getting Ukraine's finances back on track
August 30, 2010The deputy prime minister of Ukraine, Sergei Tigipko, explains what measures his government is taking, with the help of the International Monetary Fund, to get the country's finances back on an even keel.
Politics holds key to lending
March 3, 2010There are no guarantees that a new president will usher in greater economic and political stability in Ukraine, which makes further consolidation likely in the country's under-pressure banking sector. Writer Philip Alexander
Naftogaz prises open financial pipeline
December 30, 2009The successful debt restructuring by Ukraine's gas importer has eased short-term difficulties and offered hope for better government and corporate financial management in the future. However, the country's track record of disappointment in such matters still hangs heavy. Writer Philip Alexander
Yulia Tymoshenko
October 28, 2009The past few years have been turbulent even by Ukraine's standards, but prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko insists the situation will settle after next year's presidential elections. Writer Courtney Fingar
Alexander Dubilet
July 7, 2009The chairman of PrivatBank explains how the bank intends to ride out the downturn through its focus on increasing liquidity and improving the quality of its loan portfolio. Writer Brian Caplen
Viktor Yushchenko
March 10, 2009The president of Ukraine characterises his country’s economic outlook in the face of the current crisis as ‘difficult but not tragic’.
Ukraine’s cry for help
March 10, 2009Ukraine’s banking system, loaded with external debt, has been one of the most exposed to the global credit crunch. IMF intervention is plugging the leaks for the time being but the country’s economic prospects remain bleak. Writer Nick Kochan.