OREANDA-NEWS. On March 28 a discussion "Should customers of the banks be afraid of verification for social welfare payments" took place at the Ukrainian crisis media centre. The participants from banking sector were CEO of UniCredit Bank Tamara Savoshchenko, deputy chairman of Oshchadbank Anton Tiutiun, deputy chairman of Ukrgazbank Oleksii Aleksandrov and experts from Reanimation package of reforms Viktor Maziarchuk and Pavlo Kukhta.

According to Tamara Savoshchenko, verification is a common procedure of state control over use of budget funds. "The bill on social welfare establishes certain criteria to determine people receiving state support. And if there are criteria, there must be some control over their compliance. In this case banks are merely the participants of this control procedure", – said Tamara Savoshchenko.

Clients’ misunderstandings and doubts regarding verification, according to the chairman of UniCredit Bank, are rather related to trust in the banking system, because it is about disclosure\non-disclosure of bank secrecy. But the bill in question only expanded the list of institutions which banks may disclose the information to.

"I must note that banks fully support the bill because it does not affect the law-abiding citizens, but it will help identify people who use social welfare illegally", – said deputy chairman of Ukrgazbank Oleksii Aleksandrov.

According to RPR experts, more than 40% of state expenditures are in the social payments. Today they amount to ca. UAH 368 billion. The experience of many countries shows that a significant part of these funds are often used inefficiently. In Georgia, for example, due to improper funds allocation the state has lost about a quarter of the entire welfare amount. According to preliminary estimates, with proper control Ukraine’s savings in social assistance payments will be about 1% of GDP. The verification procedure is one of control tools that will help state reduce costs.

"Today, banks also want to become agents of key changes in the country. Financial institutions are state’s strategic partners on the issue of the social welfare effective allocation, because they have all the necessary information. Through the bill on verification banks can help identify people, who use state subsidies illegally, and remove them from the list. It’s not about criminal or any other punishment. It’s about law compliance", – emphasized deputy chairman of Oshchadbank Anton Tiutiun. 

NOTE

UniCredit Bank is one of the largest universal banks in Ukraine, offering a full range of top quality financial services for individuals and corporate clients.

The renovated UniCredit Bank was created in December 2013 through integration of two Ukrainian assets of UniCredit Group, which had been operating in the local market since 1997. The integrated bank combined power, solidity and wide coverage of PJSC "Ukrsotsbank" with the European expertise, quality of service and flexibility of PJSC "UniCredit Bank".

The extensive retail network of UniCredit Bank consists of 243 branches nationwide, its headcount reaching over 5,500 employees, all of them top qualified specialists.

UniCredit is a leading European commercial bank with an international network spanning over 50 markets and 17 countries, with more than 8,400 branches and over 146,000 employees.

Financial indicators of UniCredit Bank as of 01.10.2015:

  • assets — UAH 43.080 billion;
  • credit portfolio — UAH 28.99 billion;
  • funds of corporate clients — UAH 14.56 billion;
  • funds of retail clients — UAH 14.3 billion;
  • capital — UAH 8.22 billion.