The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has declared Bank Sofiysky (Kyiv) insolvent, according to the website of the regulator.

The relevant decision was stipulated in NBU resolution No. 916 dated December 22, 2015.

"After the anti-terrorist operation had started, the bank moved from Donetsk to Kyiv, however, almost the entire loan portfolio of the bank is concentrated in the ATO zone, therefore the quality of its service has deteriorated significantly, which led to problems with liquidity. The owners and the management tried to save the bank, seeking for investors. When seeking alternative sources of income, the bank focused on opening offices for retail currency exchange. However, given a significant lack of liquidity, this way was unsuccessful. The search for an investor, who could provide financial support for the bank, failed," the director of the bank supervision department at the NBU, Yekateryna Rozhkova, said.

According to the regulator, under financial reports provided by the bank, the total amount of outstanding financial liabilities as of December 9, 2015 was UAH 32.1 million, or 5.3% of the liabilities.

The central bank noted that, according to the law on banks and banking activity, the regulator must make decision on referring the bank to the category of insolvent if the bank within five working days in a row fails to fulfill 2% or more percents of its obligations to depositors and other creditors.