Hubs cites the main points of conversation.

- During all the history of independent Ukraine there was no such a banking crisis we are experiencing now. We believe that this situation is temporary and it will not stop our business. Therefore, we do our best to keep the intrinsic values, reputation and customers.

- Since 2009 we have thought through various scenarios – an earthquake, disasters, the threat of mining, power outages – and therefore outlined action plans. All this helped us this year to respond quickly and correctly to a number of unpleasant situations.

- We had two data processing centers (DPC) in Donetsk. We moved one of them to a safe place. The safest place now, to our way of thinking, is Central and Western Ukraine. We moved this equipment very quickly, just in a week. We also have already bought equipment for the third DPC worth a few million dollars. It is planned to finish work on its installation this year.

- In total we have closed 30 branches in the Donetsk and the Luhansk regions. Some of them suffered from gunfire and explosions.

- Investment in IT is one of the priority areas for us.

- We moved 640 our employees from the Donbas region. Employees unable to move out for various reasons are paid two thirds of their wages despite the fact that our business there is fully suspended. There are about 300 of such people.

- We have closed 30 branches in the Donetsk and the Luhansk regions in total. Some of them suffered from gunfire and explosions.

- There were cases of gunfire on our collector cars. Three armored cars have been hijacked. The rest have been moved to safe regions. There were armed attacks life-threatening for people, the confiscation of property, ATMs robbery, ATMs were taken out and shot. Extent of direct material damage in the form of robberies, looting, damage to property, other damages to the two eastern regions amounts to UAH 10-30 million.

- We were getting ready not only to the bank continuous operations in any situation but also understood that there is a risk of sharp devaluation. After the crisis of 2009, we took a number of decisions, which were landmark in terms of credit risk. We firmly cut off foreign currency lending. We passed through a stress test those exporters who can qualify for dollar loans. We calculated what would happen to their business in case of sharp devaluation of the hryvnia from 8 to 12, EBITDA reduced by 20%, and other factors that took place in 2009. If the client passed the test, we continued to work with him.

- Extent of direct material damage in the form of robberies, looting, damage to property, other damages to the two eastern regions amounts to UAH 10-30 million.

- We also predicted that serious panic could repeat. Therefore, we began to form secondary liquidity cushion, which would be enough for the bank to independently survive the outflow of individuals deposit portfolio by 25%. It very pressed on our efficiency before the 2014 crisis because secondary liquidity is low-income government bonds, which can be obtained by refinancing. These securities efficiency was lower than loans efficiency.

- As of early August 20% of the population's deposits in hryvnia and 37% in foreign currency flew out of the banking system. FUIB outflow equaled to 10% in the national currency and 23% in foreign currency. We did not stop servicing customers for not a single day, we did not have any delays. We hold constantly about UAH 1.2 billion in cash in our cash desks and ATMs.

- The banking system has lost 15% in the national currency and 28% in dollars for corporate clients during the first seven months. At our bank hryvnia has grown by 33% and the dollar by 14%. We were among those few banks that have a positive trend. Companies selected safe harbors for their money and it won’t be denied that part of the inflow was provided by SCM Group companies. This year we received twice as many corporate clients, compared to the same period of previous year.

- We asked the NBU for help. Refinancing portfolio ranged from UAH 200 million to 600 million. We did not take much, since there was no such need. At present, the bank's debt to the NBU is about UAH 700 million, half of this amount is refinancing we were receiving during previous years.

- We had loan portfolio of UAH 300 million in the Crimea. Even in case we don't write it off completely this will not lead to the bank becoming unprofitable.

- Crimea became the first stress for banks. 2 million people persuaded on TV they are released from obligation and may not repay their loans to Ukrainian banks. 80% of customers really decided they may not pay. Most of these customers took consumer loans. The situation was unpleasant but it was not fatal. We had loan portfolio of UAH 300 million in the Crimea. Even in case we write it off completely, this will not lead to the bank becoming unprofitable.

- Loans to individuals, small and medium businesses are our assets in the Crimea. We moved to the mainland the loans to corporate clients. In addition, three departments remain in our property, they are now frozen. We had 2% of loans and approximately 4% of deposits in Crimea. All deposits are paid off there.

- Our priority at the moment is to have money in possession.

- Events in the East intensified greatly in August. Prior to this, businesses and banks worked; we brought, distributed, and collected money. Enterprises were one by one disabled, their activity was being blocked in August. We made advances to such clients and provided them with repayment vacation for three months. 10% of corporate clients from the Donbas region asked for a repayment vacation. 30% of our assets and liabilities are concentrated in the Donetsk and the Luhansk regions.

- 10% of corporate clients from the Donbas region asked for a repayment vacation.

- We considered the possibility of buying a bank last year, and there are no such plans for this year. We plan to expand its network through organic growth. Expansion in Kyiv is an Interesting challenge. Now we have an opportunity to bargain since there are many proposals at the moment.

- The bank's strategy is not changed, but we plan to do so. We need to understand where we left off and what will be the bottom in order to build a strategy. Now we are trying to catch the trends.

- We have kept overdrafts and credit cards for customers’ wages. Selective work in retail chains remained. We strongly toughened rules of risk policy. We reduced the amount, term, but retained our presence in order to stay in the market aiming at understanding the clients’ nature and their risk at the moment. We stopped all lending in the East. We support existing corporate clients, as well as investment projects by tranche loans for 30-60 days.

- We request the NBU to disclose our stress tests results but have yet received no consent. If we are interested in the disclosure of this information you can draw your own conclusions based on the results of our bank stress tests.

Hubs