The losses are connected with the formation of reserves for PrivatBank / Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine's banking system in 2016 hit new record highs when it posted losses at UAH 159 billion, or US$5.83 billion, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
"The banking sector posted a record high loss in 2016 at UAH 159 billion, which is connected with the reserves formed for [nationalized] PrivatBank's loan portfolio," Director of the NBU's financial stability department Vitaliy Vavryshchuk said at a briefing at the NBU.
Read alsoNBU may recognize 10-15 banks insolvent in 2017 – expertYet, he said, the regulator expects that the trend will make a U-turn this year and the work of the Ukrainian banking sector will become profitable.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian operating banks' total losses in January-November 2016 amounted to UAH 18.884 billion, which was 66.7% lower than the same period in 2015, when they posted UAH 57.3 billion in loss.
Read alsoCabinet to inject $241 mln in extra capitalization into two state banksIn early February, Chairman of the Board of nationalized PrivatBank Oleksandr Shlapak said that the bank's loss after the formation of the reserves was estimated at UAH 135 billion.
The previous record high losses in the Ukrainian banking sector were registered in 2015, when the banks posted UAH 66.6 billion in loss.