Ukraine Maintains Record-Low 11.5% NPL Ratio

The share of non-performing loans (NPLs) in Ukraine’s banking sector remained at 11.5% as of Oct. 1, holding at its lowest level in 17 years for the second consecutive month. The central bank attributed the sustained drop to a combination of strong growth in higher-quality new loans and the active resolution of legacy non-performing debts.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Over the first nine months of 2026, gross lending in the banking system expanded by 20.5%, or Hr.278.8 billion ($6.1 billion), reaching Hr.1.64 trillion ($36.1 billion). Meanwhile, total non-performing loan volumes shrank by 0.8%, or Hr.1.5 billion ($33 million), down to Hr.187.8 billion ($4.1 billion), according to Thursday’s press release. Loans to businesses surged 30% year-on-year in 2025, and loans to households rose about 36%, according to the central bank’s previous estimates. NPL ratios declined across both retail and corporate segments during the nine-month period. The non-performing loan share for individual borrowers fell 1.2 percentage points, now at 9.6%, while corporate NPLs dropped 3.3 percentage points, now at 13.7% As of Oct. 1, among individual financial institutions, private Alliance Bank recorded the highest NPL ratio at 43.0% of its overall loan portfolio size. State-owned Sense Bank followed at 28.6%, with Idea Bank close behind at 28.5%. Other major state lenders also held non-performing assets, including Oshadbank at 24.0%, Ukreximbank at 19.7%, and Ukrgasbank at 17.8%, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) NPL ratio chart. Other Topics of Interest ‘Melania Ceasefire’ Gave Russia Excellent Cover to Reinforce Troops The Kremlin says Russia broke no rules but the Ukrainians probably did. PrivatBank, the country’s largest lender, maintained a low NPL ratio of 6.5% of its overall loan portfolio. Ukraine’s private bank with Ukrainian capital PUMB recorded 4.6%, Universal Bank stood at 4.1%, and Citibank held a 0% NPL ratio. The NBU wrote default rates peaked at nearly 20.0% during the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, driving the overall NPL ratio to 39.1%. The ratio has steadily declined since mid-2023, boosted in part by a major write-off of over Hr.170 billion ($3.7 billion) in legacy non-performing assets by state banks in late 2025. The ratio has fallen 2.5 percentage points since the beginning of the year and 15.1 percentage points since March 2022, reaching its lowest point since Oct. 1, 2009.