Financial news, budget and personal finances
Italian bank sells most of its Russian business to an investor from the United Arab Emirates and will record losses of up to 3.3 billion euros — but will retain a foothold for international payments needed by European clients.
The regulator is checking the qualifications of CEO Stupak and the independence of Supervisory Board Chair Gladyshenko — individuals whose names surfaced in the "Minditch recordings" before the official Cabinet competition.
Zelenskyy personally set a deadline for the privatization of Sense Bank — the same bank whose supervisory board became embroiled in a scandal involving "Mindich tapes." The state is rushing to divest itself of the asset, but there are no actual buyers in line.
What Hungary's Orbán regime had held under arrest for nearly three months on money laundering charges, the new Hungarian authorities returned without trial — a signal of resetting relations, but not without questions about the mechanism and accountability.
Analysts calculated that minimal verification of the financial status of social benefit recipients could free up billions of hryvnias. However, the government continues to distribute money to everyone without discrimination.
# ABW dismantled underground printing operation near Warsaw that planned to produce €360 million in counterfeit euros — part of the fake currency was intended for circulation in Ukraine, where cash currency demand surged following the full-scale invasion.
The SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General exposed a currency exchange center that had been operating for five years — and inadvertently revealed a list of 200 clients, each of whom is also a subject of criminal proceedings.
PlayCity has revoked Cosmolot's operating license and imposed fines totaling 12.9 million hryvnia for a scheme in which players replenished gaming accounts using transfers from third-party cards. A court has suspended the enforcement of the decision — the casino continues operating while the case is being reviewed.
A five-hryvnia coin honoring 600,000 Chornobyl liquidators transforms the very name of the catastrophe into an artistic device: the word is split between the obverse and reverse, connecting the temporal dimension of the tragedy with its pain.
Obtaining status is not a reward, but an obligation: companies with the largest subsidies are now required to establish supervisory boards with independent directors and build a comprehensive internal control system by December 31, 2026.
# The BEB Case on Illegal Gambling Network — It's Not Just About Casinos. It's About How Banking Infrastructure Converted Betting into USDT as "Supplier Settlements."
The 20th sanctions package contains not only new restrictions but also quiet exemptions — some Chinese financial institutions received relief despite documented participation in schemes to circumvent sanctions.
After the scandal with a 20-year-old armless veteran, PrivatBank launches a service that will come to the military — the card will no longer require hands for a photo.
Dublin cancels migrant housing contracts and offers payments to return — but remains silent on what happens to those who have nowhere to go.
Behind the protocol meeting in Washington is a concrete problem: Ukrainian Railways needs financing to repay eurobonds as early as July 2026, while Naftogaz needs to rebuild destroyed gas facilities.
The National Bank of Ukraine set the official euro exchange rate on April 20 at 51.7667 hryvnia—a new historical maximum. Over the past week, the euro has appreciated by nearly one hryvnia, and this is not a temporary spike: businesses are already looking at the 54-hryvnia mark in their forecasts.
# G7 and Paris Club Extend Moratorium on Ukrainian State Debt Service Until End of February 2030 The G7 and Paris Club have extended the moratorium on servicing Ukraine's state debt until the end of February 2030, in sync with a new $8.1 billion IMF program. This marks the first phase: what happens to the debt next will depend on when and how the war ends.
Oleksandr Kachny, a Member of Parliament who in July 2025 supported a law making anti-corruption bodies dependent on the Prosecutor General, has been served a suspicion notice by those same bodies and ordered to post bail of 3 million hryvnias for assets that do not match his declared income.
A group from Dnipropetrovsk region issued hryvnia microloans disguised as crypto credits through the BitCapital service, which was banned by the National Bank of Ukraine, and extorted money through threats. Officially there are 700 victims, but lawyers say there are thousands.
# Translation On July 24, the bank officially notified Moscow of a new investment dispute. The response window is six months, followed by international court proceedings. The damages amount has not been disclosed, but the Crimea precedent demonstrates how this works: $1.1 billion after seven years of litigation.
Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Lepushynskyi assures: zero-emission financing of the deficit will be preserved. Meanwhile, Hetmantsev notes: 14 unmet Ukraine Facility indicators have already cost the country billions — and this is before any new delays.
Since December, Ukraine has not received funds from the Ukraine Facility: the Verkhovna Rada delayed reforms, and the budget lost 3.6 billion euros for the entire 2025. April's vote unblocked a new tranche — and now the price of each subsequent parliamentary failure is measured not only in billions, but also in social payments.
While Citi predicts three African defaults, Senegal is doing everything to accelerate its own: rejecting IMF restructuring, receiving a "junk" bond rating, and struggling to explain €650 million in hidden debt.
Ukrainian companies expect the hryvnia to weaken by another 3.5% over the year — this forecast comes at a time when the National Bank of Ukraine maintains the exchange rate under control through currency interventions.
London has closed its portion of the G7's $50 billion loan secured by proceeds from Russia's frozen assets. However, of the €45 billion that partners are expected to close this year, only a third has been confirmed so far, as the EU awaits the lifting of Hungary's veto.
# The Regulator Calls on Banks Again Not to Block Officials' Accounts Indiscriminately — While Lawyers Document Systemic Sabotage and Zero Punishment Statistics for Excessive Pressure on Public Figures
Brussels has become the first to fulfill its ERA loan commitments, while Japan, Great Britain, and the United States have yet to complete their payments. EU Commissioner Dombrovskis is heading to Washington to pressure partners—as Ukraine is spending its budget faster than promised funds are arriving.
KMDA announced one-time payments to 42,000 victims of the Chornobyl disaster. Simple arithmetic: 53 million hryvnias for 42 thousand people — that's approximately 1,260 hryvnias per person on average.
# Translation The European Union may announce a payment of €2.5–2.7 billion as early as April 16 at the G20 meeting. The funds were unblocked by three laws adopted by Parliament in early April — however, Ukraine has still not fulfilled 14 other indicators for 2025.
# Euro Zone Economic Outlook Shifts as Middle East Conflict Unfolds The eurozone was on solid growth trajectory through late February 2026. Then the Middle East war began — and the ECB rewrote its forecast. Now between you and recession stands just one question: how long will the conflict last.