REUTERS
The situation in the Ukrainian currency market is stable.
Chairman of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Bohdan Danylyshyn says the ruling of the first instance court regarding the abolition of nationalization of Ukraine's No.1 bank PrivatBank, carried out in 2016 will not significantly affect Ukraine's economy or banking system operation.
"The NBU is closely monitoring the situation in the interbank forex market and is ready to timely smooth out exchange rate fluctuations," he wrote on Facebook on April 19.
According to Danylyshyn, the situation in the Ukrainian currency market remains stable. The hryvnia has strengthened against the U.S. dollar by over 3% since January 1.
PrivatBank is stable and makes payments to customers. Its profit for January-February of 2019 totaled UAH 5.2 billion ($193.7 million).
"I believe that PrivatBank should work in a stable and coordinated mode," the official added.
The official assured that an appeal hearing would be for sure, but the relevant procedure might take several years.
Read alsoMarket reacts to PrivatBank's possible return to private ownership
"The litigation concerns the bank's current owners and former shareholders rather its depositors," he said.
As UNIAN reported, the Cabinet of Ministers in December 2016 decided to nationalize PrivatBank, guided by the recommendations of the National Security and Defense Council. Before nationalization, the key shareholders of the bank were businessman Ihor Kolomoisky and his partner Gennadiy Bogolyubov.
On April 18, 2019, the Kyiv District Administrative Court declared unlawful and overturned the decision of 2016 to withdraw the "insolvent" PrivatBank from the market with the participation of the state. The full text of the decision will be announced by the college of judges within ten days.
According to a joint statement by the National Bank, the Ministry of Finance and PrivatBank, the return of the financial institution to its former owners through the cancellation of the nationalization decision is impossible. Also, the NBU reported its intentions to appeal the ruling within the prescribed time frame, or within 30 days from the receipt of the full text.
Chairman of the bank board, Peter Krumhansl, assured that the first instance court ruling rolling back nationalization would not affect the bank's work. According to him, the bank is operating as usual, its liquidity today is almost 100% and there are no emergency situations recorded, including massive withdrawals of money from the accounts, and limits on such operations.
Ukraine's international partners, in particular the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and the U.S. Embassy made statements on support for the nationalization of PrivatBank, as well as on the importance of indemnifying the losses by the former owners of bankrupt banks, and on intentions to closely monitor developments in this area.