NBU Shields War-Hit Borrowers From Default, Lets Farmers Borrow More Against Grain

Ukraine’s central bank has rewritten the rules on how banks handle war-hit borrowers, letting lenders restructure short-term debt without booking a default, and letting agricultural producers pledge more collateral value against the grain sitting in their warehouses. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) adopted resolutions No. 88 and No. 89 on Aug. 7, both taking effect on Aug. 8. The changes amend the central bank’s wartime operating rules and its methodology for calculating credit risk, all signed by NBU Governor Andriy Pyshny.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Russia’s escalating port strikes have pushed deep-water grain exports toward a standstill, with shipowners refusing new charters, insurers pulling back, and traders shifting cargo to the Danube, and Romania’s Constanța. Unlike the war’s early years, thin margins now leave little reason to risk the run, and it is still unclear whether exports will resume to a full volume. Banks have until Sept. 30 to update their internal documents and reflect the new rules, and until Dec. 1 to report the date to complete their first credit risk calculations under the revised methodology. Restructuring instead of war-caused default Under the revised rules, banks will not have to record a formal default when they grant a business or sole proprietor (FOP) a short-term restructuring, of up to one year, triggered by financial difficulty tied to Russia’s war. The relief applies only to restructurings carried out between July 1, 2026, and Sept. 1, 2027, and only where the bank has grounds to believe the borrower can overcome the disruption and resume payments, with no further changes made to the loan’s terms after the restructuring period ends. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Drone Swarm Hits Russia: 450+ UAVs Target 16 Regions, 12 Killed in Tatarstan Strike In Tatarstan, drones reportedly struck Nizhnekamsk, a major industrial hub home to oil and chemical facilities. The central bank wrote that the step builds on preventive restructuring practices used successfully after the economic shocks of 2020 and 2022, arguing the relaxation would not undermine financial stability while giving a significant share of debtors room to stabilize their operations. NBU allows bigger loans against the same grain The second set of changes targets the agricultural sector, whose export routes have been repeatedly disrupted by Russian strikes on ports and infrastructure. Through Sept. 1, 2027, banks will be allowed to: Raise the liquidity ratio applied to agricultural produce used as collateral from 40% to 75%; Value that collateral based on a borrower’s actual on-site stock at the time credit risk is calculated, rather than fixed estimates; Extend the maximum term of loans secured by such collateral from 12 to 18 months. The same volume of grain in a warehouse will now count for more on a bank’s books, letting agricultural producers borrow larger sums against it. The NBU said the change should help cover working-capital gaps, storage costs, and the search for alternative export routes, while helping sustain production cycles. New math for guaranteed loans Separate amendments to Regulation No. 351, which governs how Ukrainian banks calculate credit risk on active banking operations, introduce an updated approach to loans backed by portfolio-based guarantee instruments – typically issued by international partners and structured with two layers of coverage. The regulation additionally sets out new formulas banks must use to calculate credit risk on loans secured simultaneously by conventional collateral and a partner guarantee. They also require the bank to reimburse the guarantor if it also recovers funds through other means, such as selling the collateral to avoid duplicating the return of investment. Banks may now count such guarantees at the more favorable individual-loan level rather than the stricter portfolio level. The guarantee contract does not cap each transaction to a portfolio-wide limit, less than 50% of the total guarantee limit has been used, and the bank reviews utilization at least once every 12 months. The NBU wrote that guarantee-related changes were developed together with international partners to encourage wider use of such instruments, including guarantees under the EU’s Ukraine Facility. The list of guarantee banks may count as collateral was also expanded to explicitly include counter-guarantees, alongside standard guarantees and standby letters of credit. The changes also clarify how banks should count days of arrears when an individual repays one loan using funds from an overdraft or credit card and standardizing the calculation across the sector based on supervisory analysis of existing bank practices. Olena Hrazhdan is the Business Reporter at Kyiv Post, covering Ukraine’s markets, business, and economic policy. While she reports broadly on economic issues, her core focus is banking, finance, monetary and fiscal policy. Olena previously wrote for leading Ukrainian business media and became a Fellow of the International Monetary Fund’s Journalism Fellowship in 2024.