PrivatBank (Kyiv) before nationalization functioned as a financial pyramid, Deputy Head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Yekateryna Rozhkova has said during a working meeting of the parliamentary committee on financial policy and banking activities.

"Before nationalization the bank had no resources to return deposits. PrivatBank was a financial pyramid," she said.

Rozhkova drew attention to the audit of PrivatBank's financial statements according to IFRS for 2016, conducted by EY, which estimated the volume of the bank's depreciated loans at UAH 206.5 billion, of which only a small part - for the amount of UAH 14.9 billion - were loans to individuals, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, the volume of public funds in the bank at the time of nationalization was UAH 151.2 billion.

As reported, PrivatBank Board Chairman Oleksandr Shlapak during a press conference on July 4 stated the real volume of loans to related persons as of January 1, 2017 was UAH 190 billion, or 97% of the financial institution's total loan portfolio. The gross indebtedness on the portfolio, which also includes interest to be recovered, was UAH 198.4 billion.