The National Bank of Ukraine published the results of the assessment of the stability of banks and the banking system in 2025. According to the conclusions of the NBU, the banking sector in general remains sufficiently stable and capitalized.
The main market players, which form the majority of assets, have sufficient capital reserves to continue lending and remain solvent even in the event of a deep and prolonged crisis. At the same time, the need to take additional measures to strengthen stability was indicated for individual banks.
The assessment included several stages: an analysis of the quality of assets and the acceptability of collateral, which was carried out by independent auditors for all banks; extrapolation of results if necessary; as well as stress testing the 21 largest banks, which account for more than 90% of the sector’s assets, under baseline and adverse scenarios.
A check of the quality of assets confirmed the correctness of the definition of credit risk by the banks themselves. Auditors made only minor adjustments that did not affect the capital of most institutions. Only one of the banks that underwent this inspection was determined to be higher than the minimum capital requirements.
Among the 21 banks that underwent stress testing, nine had increased capital adequacy requirements. They account for about 18% of the sector’s net assets. From this group, three banks (two state and one private), which have a total of 13% of the system’s assets, need additional capital only in an adverse scenario. Another three institutions with increased requirements already have sufficient capital that they will need to maintain. The other three banks, which need to improve according to the base scenario, control only 3% of assets, while the rest have a sufficient level of capitalization.
The total need for capital, taking into account the adverse scenario, is about 5% of the regulatory capital of the system at the beginning of the year. This is almost three times less than the results of the inspection in 2021. The number of banks for which increased requirements have been established has also decreased. In contrast to 2021, in 2025 the total amount of capital of the system grew under all scenarios, even in the unfavorable one.
In order to maintain stability, banks must fulfill the requirements of the NBU regarding capital adequacy or implement measures to restructure their balance sheets. This may include improving the quality of the loan portfolio, optimizing the structure of assets and liabilities, or adjusting the business model. Most often, banks choose the restructuring option, which requires more time.
In order to give institutions the opportunity to implement the necessary programs, the resolution of the NBU Board dated August 27, 2025 No. 101 extended the deadline for implementing measures to achieve the necessary standards under an adverse scenario until the end of September 2026. This will allow banks to either eliminate the problems that led to increased requirements, or to increase capital.
A detailed report with the distribution of results for each bank will be published at the end of December 2025.
