Twenty three Ukrainian banks receives support from NBU

Ekonomicheskie Izvestia reported yesterday that 23 Ukrainian banks, other than Prominvestbank, confirmed receiving support from the NBU to date, totaling over UAH 3.2 bln (USD 590 mln), including UAH 1.5 bln (USD 277 mln) to Bank Nadra, the country’s #7 bank by assets. The major liquidity concern for Ukrainian banks is the settlement of short-term foreign debt obligations. In 4Q08, Ukrainian banks are scheduled to repay about USD 1.1 bln. We estimate that only half of banks were able to refinance this debt, meaning up to an additional USD 500 mln in financing could be needed. Last week, the NBU offered a record high loan of UAH 5 bln (USD 923 mln) to Prominvestbank, Ukraine’s #6 lender, and yesterday installed a temporary head of the bank, in addition to imposing a six-month ban on the early withdrawal of term deposits. For more details see our flash note yesterday.