Following its most profitable year in recent times in 2019, Ukraine’s banking system is now dealing with the economic fallout of the global coronavirus pandemic. Despite this, those involved in the sector feel that they are in a much stronger position to weather the current challenges than during previous crises in 2008 and 2014 – the former caused by the global financial crisis and the latter by internal political turmoil, conflict in the east of the country and Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
“The Ukrainian banking sector met the coronavirus hit with strong liquidity and capital positions and, for better or worse, the sector has experiences [of] managing through crises,” says Alexander McWhorter, head of Citi Ukraine, which has operated in the country for more than 20 years.