Ukraine’s banking sector proves resilient in 2025 stress test – NBU

Ukraine’s banking sector continues to withstand the ongoing crisis and remains well-capitalized, according to the results of the 2025 resilience assessment conducted by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The annual review, carried out with the involvement of external auditors, includes stress testing of the country’s largest financial institutions.

The assessment is comprehensive, covering everything from asset and collateral quality to banks’ performance under baseline and adverse scenarios. This year, 21 of the largest banks — which together hold more than 90% of the system’s assets — took part in the review.

Most banks demonstrated sufficient capital buffers, the NBU reported. Only a few institutions will need to strengthen their resilience by either raising additional capital or restructuring their balance sheets.

In the 2025 stress test, nine out of 21 banks were assigned higher capital adequacy requirements. Collectively, these institutions account for 18% of the sector’s net assets.

The NBU clarified that three banks — two state-owned and one privately-owned, representing around 13% of assets — would require extra capital only under the adverse scenario. Another three, despite higher requirements under the baseline scenario, already have sufficient capital in place. The remaining three, which will need to raise capital even under the baseline scenario, together account for just 3% of total system assets.

"Overall, the estimated additional capital requirement under this year’s stress test, based on the adverse scenario, equals about 5% of the system’s regulatory capital as of the beginning of 2025. This is nearly three times lower than the result of the 2021 resilience assessment," the NBU stated.

The regulator also noted that the number of banks facing higher capital requirements has declined compared to the pre-war period. While in 2021 the sector’s total capital decreased under the adverse scenario, in 2025 it is projected to increase under all modeled scenarios.

"Banks that account for the vast majority of the sector's assets have sufficient capital reserves to continue lending and remain solvent even in a deep and prolonged crisis. However, a number of banks need to take measures to strengthen their resilience to possible future crises," the NBU said .

The NBU has extended the deadline for implementing measures to achieve the required capital ratios in an adverse scenario until the end of September 2026. Detailed information by bank is expected to be published in late December.

• Ukrainian banks in the first half of 2025 received UAH 78 billion in net profit, which is only 1.1% lower than the record figure of the previous year.