The National Bank of Ukraine should ease its ban on restructuring foreign currency loans to businesses so that banks and their clients can resolve this issue individually. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Andriy Novak, Chairman of the Committee of Economists of Ukraine.
Given the fact that the economic situation is very difficult for most business entities in Ukraine, it would be worth at least easing (the NBU's ban on restructuring foreign currency loans - ed.). Because if, for example, a client comes to an agreement with a bank and the bank is ready to meet the client's needs, for example, a regular client or one with whom it has been working for a long time and has a good credit history, then why not allow it to do so to ease the financial situation of the business entity at least a little bit,
According to him, as long as the NBU's ban on restructuring foreign currency loans is in effect, no bank will violate it, as it may be sanctioned by the regulator.
NBU's ban on restructuring foreign currency loans: how it affects entrepreneurs7/17/24, 10:19 AM
Let's add
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian business has demonstrated resilience and readiness to quickly adjust to current challenges.
In the case of the ban on converting foreign currency loans into hryvnia, Ukrainian businesses often take unpopular steps to stay afloat and avoid losing everything.
One of the Ukrainian businesses that has a foreign currency loan that dates back to 2006 is the owners of the Gulliver shopping center in Kyiv. By the way, at the time of the loan, the company that received the loan had other owners. The crises of 2008 and 2014 dealt an irreparable blow to businesses that were lent in foreign currency. This led to the fact that the current owners of Gulliver were forced to restructure their debt in 2020. However, it was not possible to convert the loan into hryvnia.