01.04.10 Interview with Mr. Serhii Naumov, Head of Board of JSCIB “Ukrsibbank”

— In what way does UkrSibbank prove to restore the trust of its customers?
—The most important thing to gain customer trust is to fulfill taken obligations. UkrSibbank has never had any liquidity problems; it always managed to pay money to those of its customers who were willing to withdraw their deposits. That was really important, especially during the crisis.

At rough times it is crucial to be prompt in responding to customer needs. Thus, when panics set off, UkrSibbank presented its Active Money deposit that provides permanent access to funds as well as the possibility to earn decent interest in case money has been deposited for more than one month. This is how we retained depositors trust showing there was no risk of non-withdrawal.

Today we see that customers still want to have new flats, cars, enjoy pleasant vacations etc. Besides, during recession people tend to save money and spend less. For that reason last year we launched Savings Plan deposit allowing depositors to pay in their deposit accounts with minimum installments during 12 or 18 months. This is a very convenient way to save money, especially today. And when the term of deposit expires, a customer may apply for unsecured loan in the amount lacking to make a desired purchase. The idea is rather simple - customers who have proved their ability to monthly deposit a part of their budgets are reliable for us and we can help them make their “dreams” come true.

On the other hand, UkrSibbank pays special attention to all of its customers. At the time of the crisis it is important not simply to gain the depositors’ trust, but to support the borrowers as well, especially those who have some difficulties. We try to solve their problems together. If they are willing to cooperate, of course. The bank has set up a specialized business line for handling overdue debts, which deals with customers from the day the problem arises. We develop special strategies of working with customers, divide borrowers into homogenous groups and assign a relevant strategy to each of them. We are constantly analyzing efficiency of those strategies and improving processes for handling overdue debts. It is worth mentioning that today the situation is stabilizing. Delinquency dynamics slows down gradually. This was evident during the last months of 2009 already.

Another important factor determining the level of our customers’ trust is providing them with transparent information about their account balances at any time convenient for them.

— Do you count on support of your parent bank in 2010?
— UkrSibbank as part of one of the global leaders on the financial market can rely on support of its parent company – BNP Paribas. This includes not only finance, but also intellectual, legal and other aspects. Last year our principal shareholder increased the authorized capital by UAH 1.275 mln up to UAH 5.28 bln that allowed BNP Paribas to increase its share in the bank’s stock up to 81.42%. This proves the interest the parent company has in further development of the bank in Ukraine. I am sure the Group continues to be interested in the bank’s stability and its further development.

— What dynamics of individual deposit base do you expect in the current year in your bank and in the banking as a whole?
— Deposit targets for 2010 are quite ambitious. However, we believe they will be achieved. There is a high level of depositors’ trust to UkrSibbank since it was gained at the time of crisis when our customers had no problems with deposit withdrawal.

— Are you ready to work with real economy sector? What industries would you stake on?  
— Loan portfolio brings most of the profit to the banks. That is why we cannot do without issuing loans. The question is who and how should we grant our loans to. This is the purpose of credit policy which defines economy sectors that are of priority for being credited. Those include industries which demonstrated stability and even growth during the crisis. I think, we will work with food industry companies, agricultural traders, and export-oriented industries. Anyway, we will support dutiful customers irrespectively of the industry they operate in.