The net profit of the Ukraine’s state-owned PrivatBank increased to 27.4 billion hryvnias (983.6 million euros) during the first nine months of the year, 5.4 times more than in the corresponding period of 2018, Interfax Ukraine has reported.
According to the bank’s quarterly financial statements, its net interest income grew by 37 per cent to close to 14.7 billion hryvnias (more than 526.1 million euros) year-on-year, while its net worth rose by 50 per cent to around 47.2 billion hryvnias (almost 1.7 billion euros).
The bank, which is Ukraine’s largest commercial lender, was nationalised in 2016, with the Ukrainian state investing more than 155 billion hryvnias (more than 5.6 billion euros) in its capital.
The bank continues to be at the centre of a number of legal cases brought by its former shareholders Igor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Boholyubov, who are disputing the nationalisation process.
Earlier this month, a London court ruling allowed the bank to claim three billion US dollars including interest from its former owners.
Discussing the ongoing legal disputes surrounding the banks, Ukrainian prime minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said that PrivatBank’s case was key for the country’s macroeconomic stability and how investors look at the country, adding that investors will not come to Ukraine if they see the country still struggling with the issue.
Speaking on October 29, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to keep PrivatBank in state ownership.
