Banks, Financial Services, Latvia, Ukraine

A statement posted last week on its website says that Kukics has decided to leave the position of PrivatBank CEO to start a new phase of this career.

“Kukics has been heading the bank for the past three years, a difficult period of change. His selflessness was well known in the Latvian banking sector. Kukics leaves the bank in a stable position with a great future growth potential,” the bank said in the statement.

As reported, Latvia’s PrivatBank closed 2018 with a preliminary loss of EUR 4.195 mln, down 35.8% against a year ago, according to the bank’s financial report. The loss of PrivatBank Group decreased 28.6% y-o-y to EUR 3.837 mln in 2018.

As at December 31, 2018, the bank’s assets were worth EUR 201 million, down 11.1% from the end of 2017 when PrivatBank’s assets stood at EUR 226.17 mln.

The bank’s capital and reserves contracted 13.2% from the end of 2017 to EUR 39.891 mln at the end of December 2018.

PrivatBank’s capital adequacy ratio was 28.15 percent and the liquidity ratio at 642.28% at the end of 2018.

In 2017, PrivatBank sustained an audited loss of EUR 6.533 mln in contrast to a profit made a year before and the banking group was EUR 5.378 mln in the red.

The banking group comprises PrivatBank, Amber Real and PrivatInvestment.

At the end of June 2018, PrivatBank was the 12th largest bank in Latvia by assets. The bank’s key owner is Ukraine’s PrivatBank which the Ukrainian government nationalized in December 2016.