Revolut halts new customers in Ukraine after banking license dispute
Revolut, the London-based digital bank, has suspended registration of new customers in Ukraine, a company press office told The Kyiv Independent on April 9.
Banking
Raiffeisen Bank International's subsidiary remains invested in sanctioned Russian entities, report says
As of January, Raiffeisen Capital held around 31.7 billion rubles ($365 million) in sanctioned entities, such as the Sberbank bank or the state-owned energy giant Gazprom, the report said, citing financial documents.
Updated: Revolut denies operating in Ukraine without license after central bank's pushback
According to Ukrainian banking law, a foreign bank can only operate in Ukraine if it opens a local branch or obtains a banking license. This process must first be approved by the NBU, the bank said in the press release.
London-based digital bank Revolut officially launches in Ukraine
British fintech company Revolut officially launched its services in Ukraine after a beta testing phase, introducing a special Clear Sky debit card in Ukraine's national blue and yellow colors, the company announced on its website on Feb.11.
Raiffeisen Bank reports first loss in 9 years after Russian court ruling, Bloomberg reports
The Austrian lender reported a net loss of 926 million euros ($955 million) in the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily due to provisions in its Russian subsidiary.
Raiffeisen Bank cooperates with companies supplying Russian army, Bloomberg reports
In 2023, the Russian branch of Raiffeisen Bank earned over $1 billion in the first three quarters, which accounted for about 50% of the group's total profit. The bank also paid 277 million euros ($284 million) in taxes to Russia over the same period, Bloomberg reported.
Putin clears Goldman Sachs' exit from Russia with sale to Armenia-based firm
Goldman Sachs has entered into a binding agreement to offload its Russian subsidiary, making it one of the few Western banks to exit the country entirely, Bloomberg reported.
Ukraine's central bank raises key policy rate to 14.5% due to inflation
Ukraine's National Bank (NBU) announced on Jan. 23 that it will raise the key policy rate from 13.5% to 14.5% per annum starting from Jan. 24, 2025.
Indian banks block Russian oil payments after new US sanctions
Following the new restrictions, financial institutions in India began blocking payments for Russian crude, Energy Intelligence reported. India is currently the leading importer of Russian oil.
Putin orders Russian government, top bank to cooperate with China on AI tech
Putin told the government and state-owned Sberbank to "ensure further cooperation with the People's Republic of China in technological research and development in the field of artificial intelligence."
Putin changes Russian gas payment laws after US sanctions Gazprombank
According to Putin's new law, gas purchases are no longer tied to Gazprombank and can be settled by offsetting mutual debts. The U.S. sanctioned Gazprombank on Nov. 21.
Ukrainian intelligence hackers disrupt Russia's Gazprombank, source says
The cyberattack, described as a powerful distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) assault, disrupted Gazprombank's online and mobile banking services.
Supreme Court puts an end to oligarch Kolomoisky's appeal for restoring Privatbank ownership
Ukraine's Supreme Court on Nov. 26 upheld earlier rulings on nationalizing Ukraine's largest bank and dismissed an appeal of its former owner Ihor Kolomoisky, ending a years-long case.
US imposes sanctions on over 50 Russian banks, including Gazprombank
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian banks, including Gazprombank, securities registrars, and financial officials, according to a Nov. 21 statement.
Ukraine state-owned enterprises weekly — Issue 150
Editor’s Note: This is issue 150 of Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly, covering events from Sept. 29 – Oct. 5, 2024. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission. Corporate governance of SOEs Cabinet completes the composition of UDI’s supervisory board. On Oct. 4, the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Timur
Raiffeisen Bank agrees to sell Belarusian subsidiary
Austria-headquartered Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) agreed to sell its stake in its Belarusian subsidiary Priorbank, marking the first step toward fully withdrawing from the Belarusian market, RBI announced on Sept. 20.
IMF reportedly postpones controversial visit to Russia
The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) planned visit to Russia has been "postponed indefinitely," Russian state-controlled news agency TASS reported on Sept. 17.
Ukraine state-owned enterprises weekly — Issue 147
Editor’s Note: This is issue 147 of Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly, covering events from Sept. 8-14, 2024. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission. Corporate governance of SOEs Former Ukrenergo’s CEO Kudrytskyi interviewed. Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, who was dismissed as Ukrenergo’s CEO on Sept. 2, was interviewed
Ukraine Business Roundup — French billionaire closes historic deal in Ukraine
The following is the Sept. 10, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. French billionaire Xavier Niel’s investment company NJJ Capital on Sept. 9 closed a deal to merge two
Ukraine state-owned enterprises weekly — Issue 146
Editor’s Note: This is issue 146 of Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly, covering events from Sept. 1-7, 2024. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission. Corporate governance of SOEs Ukrenergo’s supervisory board dismisses CEO Kudrytskyi despite objections of international partners; two independent board members step down due to
Ukraine may target record bank profits with further tax increase to plug budget hole
Ukrainian banks continue posting record profits, earning nearly Hr 120 billion ($2.9 billion) in the first seven months of 2024. The result is 22% higher than the same period last year, analytics website Opendatabot reported. As the Kyiv Independent previously reported, Ukrainian banks are enjoying an influx of cash,
IMF to send its first delegation to Russia since full-scale invasion's start, Russian representative claims
The last IMF mission to Russia was in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. "We were excluded from this process under pressure from our Western 'friends,' and there were no further missions in 2022-23," the IMF's Russian Executive Director Aleksei Mozhin said.
Chinese banks curb Russian transactions as US sanctions bite
Chinese banks are shutting down transactions with Russia over worries about losing access to the U.S. dollar and being cut off from the international financial markets, experts told the Kyiv Independent. The U.S. issued an executive order in December 2023 warning that it would sanction any foreign financial
Kyrgyzstan's major bank suspends transfers via sanctioned Russian banks
"Money transfers through Russian banks, including Sberbank, Tinkoff, and MTS, have been suspended in both directions. This service is unavailable indefinitely," the bank's statement read.
Hackers launch cyberattack against Ukraine's Monobank
A massive denial of service (DDoS) attack targeted Monobank, launching one billion service requests at the company's website in three hours.
Russia revokes banking license of American Express subsidiary
Russia’s central bank canceled the banking license of American Express Co.'s Russian subsidiary on Aug. 13, following the unit's voluntary liquidation request.
Despite sanctions, billions of dollars, euros shipped to Russia since March 2022, Reuters reports
Much of the cash arrived in Russia via third-party countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, which have declined to join in such currency-related sanctions against Russia.
Russia's economy will face sharp decline after second quarter of 2024, Bloomberg reports
Russia is on track for an intense economic slowdown due to significant labor shortages and constraints placed on the key sectors that backed growth until now, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 9.
As Ukraine banks on its young tech startups, Western banks are cutting them off
It was the night before Alyona Mysko’s birthday when she got the word from her financial manager. The founder of software company Fuel that provides financial planning for startups, Mysko was, she says, still working at home in Kyiv well into the night of July 22 when she learned
Ukraine concluded 'one of the largest cyberattacks' against Russia, source says
The wide-reaching DDoS attack began on July 23 and disrupted the services of Russia's top banks, social networks and messengers, government websites, and more. Russian media widely reported on the problems experienced by users across the country.
Chinese banks reject about 80% of Russian yuan payments, media reports
According to sources cited by Kommersant, Chinese banks routinely let Russian yuan payments delay for several weeks before ultimately rejecting them, often without providing a reason.
Hungary quietly takes record $1 billion loan from Chinese banks
Hungary's record loan came amid a record increase in its public debt to 140 billion euros ($152 billion), 73.5% of GDP, and a budget deficit of 6.7% of GDP, while the country has no access to European Union funds due to the conflict with Brussels.
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