National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Governor Andriy Pyshnyy has issued recommendations to banks on supporting real-sector enterprises affected by the worsening security situation, urging them to pay particular attention to critical sectors of the economy.
"Preserving business access to bank financing is one of the key factors in the state’s economic resilience and export potential during martial law," he wrote on Facebook on Friday.
Pyshnyy said systematic Russian attacks on energy, logistics, warehouse and port infrastructure have complicated the work of Ukrainian enterprises, including through restrictions on maritime logistics.
Delays or temporary halts in exports worsen enterprises’ cash flows, lead to the accumulation of finished goods, disrupt production and logistics chains, and reduce businesses’ ability to service loans on time and attract new financing.
The central bank recommended that banks consider individual support for borrowers, including through debt restructuring, changes to repayment schedules, or other tools in line with their internal risk management policies.
"At the same time, restructuring should not be used to conceal a borrower’s insolvency," the NBU governor said.
Banks were also advised to continuously monitor enterprises’ financial condition, taking into account logistics constraints, price and demand dynamics, the loss of production and business ties, and the current regulatory features for assessing credit risk under martial law.
Separately, the NBU called for ensuring uninterrupted lending to the agro-industrial complex, primarily to finance the autumn sowing campaign and other critical production processes.
Banks were advised to make wider use of support programs for agricultural enterprises and the option of accepting finished products as loan collateral.
The central bank also plans to expand the current credit risk assessment framework so that, in defined cases, banks may waive certain default indicators for legal entities that require short-term restructuring and are capable of resuming debt servicing.
It also plans to expand the ability to account for the value of inventory or work-in-progress collateral for agro-industrial products, including by raising the liquidity ratio for such collateral.
The proposed regulatory changes will be temporary, remaining in effect for one year from their introduction.
"The proposed measures should not conceal problem loans or replace sound risk management. They are meant to help viable businesses get through a period of temporary difficulty without losing access to financing," Pyshnyy added.
As previously reported, during a briefing following its July 30 key policy rate decision, the NBU said the focus of Russian attacks in recent months had shifted to business production facilities and logistics infrastructure, particularly maritime, which is limiting economic activity, increasing enterprise costs and intensifying fundamental price pressure.
