Out of nearly ₴11 bn in deposits, 94.2% are placed in highly-rated banks, reported Alexander Zaletov, NBU. Primarily, this includes three state-owned banks, representing 36% or ₴3,985 mn. The TOP13 banks with foreign capital account for 41.9% or ₴4,590 mn. The TOP10 banks with Ukrainian capital hold 11.2% or ₴1,230 mn. Additionally, the TOP5 subsidiaries of Russian state-owned banks hold 4.7% or ₴520 mn. There is also a group of "suspicious" banks where insurers' deposits now do not exceed ₴50 mn per bank.
In the previous year, most insurer deposits were placed in banks considered "leaders" (e.g., Avangard, Mikhailovsky, Eurobank, and Soyuz held no less than ₴250–400 mn each). However, these deposits were often paper-based and lacked actual funds, so few were affected when issues arose. The real losses were seen with banks like Khreshchatyk (₴55 mn in deposits) and Fidobank (₴5 mn in deposits). The major impact on insurers came from banks such as Forum, Brokbusinessbank, Nadra Bank, Delta Bank, and Imexbank, which held real money.
This year, however, the collapse of banks had minimal impact on insurers. Many insurers had already shifted to more stable financial institutions or prepaid taxes to the state budget in advance, a matter now under court review for legality.
NBU has introduced a rule requiring risk insurers to hold at least 15% and life insurers 25% of their funds in safer investment instruments. These include government bonds, international financial organization bonds, and bank deposits or bonds with a rating of "AA" or higher. This regulation is temporary.
The NBU's strategy has been validated by rising deposit returns. Despite lower interest rates, interest income for the first half of this year was up 26% compared to the same period last year. Previously, some banks did not pay interest on deposits; insurers even paid extra to confirm the deposits' existence on report dates, indicating that deposits in "scheme" banks were merely on paper.
