PrivatBank (Kyiv) in 2018 will receive at least UAH 5 billion of net profit and lays such an indicator as the minimum figure in the draft financial plan for 2019, deputy head of the bank Halyna Pakhachuk has stated.

"The conservative scenario assumes at least UAH 5 billion of net profit," she told reporters in Kyiv.

Pakhachuk added that for the current year the bank has more optimistic expectations for net profit, but did not name them.

According to her, in the ten months of this year, the net profit of the bank amounted to UAH 7.2 billion and could have been significantly more if it were not necessary to form UAH 5.8 billion reserves for the restored liabilities of ten offshore companies affiliated with the former owners in the amount of $206 million plus interest, as it was not possible to register the ownership rights for the transferred Romanian large tire plant, which is currently in the process of bankruptcy.

At the same time, the banker stressed that with the formation of these reserves, the process of reserving the delinquent loan portfolio of UAH 206 billion was actually completed.

Commenting on the net profit forecast for 2019, Pakhachuk noted that it foresees the expected reduction in lending rates for individuals and small and medium-sized businesses.