Moody's Upgrades Five Ukraine Banks From Stable to Positive - Statement

Recent improvement in the creditworthiness of Ukraine’s government has prompted an upgrade in baseline credit ratings for five of six Ukrainian banks, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Recent improvement in the creditworthiness of Ukraine’s government has prompted an upgrade in baseline credit ratings for five of six Ukrainian banks, Moody’s Investors Service said in a press release on Wednesday.

"While conditions in Ukraine remain highly challenging, banks' funding conditions have improved given steady growth in deposits since 2016 and gradually reducing reliance on wholesale funding," the release said

Deposit ratings were upgraded from stable to positive for three state-owned banks, Privatbank, Savings Bank of Ukraine and Ukreximbank, as well as two privately owned institutions, Raiffeisen Bank Aval and Pivdennyi Bank, the release added.

A sixth institution, Prominvestbank, also showed recent improvement although the bank’s deposit rating remained stable, the release noted.

Moody’s recently upgraded the Ukraine Government’s sovereign bond rating from stable to positive and predicted annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 2.5 percent in 2017-18.