UKREXIMBANK DEBUTS NEW YORK OFFICE
News and commentary from the Ukrainian Observer The Willard Group
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007

KYIV - Ukreximbank, the State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine, has received official approval from the US Federal Reserve to establish a representative trade office in New York. The new facility will be the first Ukrainian bank to open its doors for business in the United States.

During President Viktor Yushchenko's visit to the United States in September, he and Ukreximbank Chairman Viktor Kapustin held a symbolic ribbon cutting for the new banking facility. The official application to establish the new banking operation was submitted to the U.S. Federal Reserve on August 18, 2006, subject to the Foreign Bank Supervision Enhancement Act, was approved on August 17, 2007.

Addressing a US-Ukraine Business Council meeting in Kyiv on Dec. 7, a top Ukreximbank official, Nikolay Oudovichenko, said one of the principal functions of the new office would be facilitation of increased investment of Ukrainian capital in the United States economy.

Ukreximbank is one the most profitable operators on the Ukrainian banking market and is the country's leader in trade finance, servicing a large proportion of Ukraine's export-import activities.

Ukreximbank is a multi-purpose financial institution established with 100 percent state capital, with branches in all regions and all major cities of the country. Ukreximbank holds one of the highest ratings from Fitch Ratings and Moody's among Ukrainian banks. Earlier this year, Standard & Poor's named it 'most transparent bank in Ukraine' for the second year in a row.

This recognition, along with an impressive list of partner institutions including the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank contributed to Ukreximbank receiving official approval from the U.S. Federal Reserve, a bank source said.

"Ukreximbank's New York office will focus on strengthening the bank's position in the US market, promoting the interests of Ukrainian companies that export to the United States and world markets, and will contribute to the strengthening of Ukraine-U.S. cooperation," said Kapustin.

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