Business is becoming more confident: Pivdenny on drivers of lending growth in Ukraine

2024 was the first year of credit recovery since the start of the full-scale war, and in the first quarter of 2025, the net growth of the banking system’s credit portfolio reached UAH 26 billion. A significant contribution was made by Pivdenny Bank, the share of which was about 17% (UAH 4.4 billion). This was reported by Maksym Tsymbal, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Pivdenny Bank, during the Forbes Money forum.

The main drivers of growth were the financing of projects to restore energy infrastructure, as well as the gradual return of business confidence. From June 2024 to April 2025, banks received applications for financing energy projects worth UAH 85 billion, of which UAH 18 billion has already been financed.

“Our work with clients shows that confidence in making financial decisions that have a horizon of more than one year is growing. This is confirmed by the National Bank of Ukraine - the business expectations index in the first quarter of this year has the highest value since the beginning of the war. Such optimism transfers momentum to lending, which contributes to making long-term financial decisions, in particular - investment loans with a payback period of 3-5 years,” Maksym Tsymbal says.

Pivdenny’s loan portfolio continues to grow: in 2024, the bank increased it by UAH 5.5 billion, and in the first months of 2025 alone, by another UAH 4.4 billion. The total volume of projects in progress as of April 1 amounted to UAH 13 billion. Growth is observed in such sectors of the economy as agriculture, trade, and light industry, without a pronounced dominance of any one industry.

Demand for foreign currency lending is also growing, especially among medium and large businesses. In the structure of the bank’s portfolio, the share of foreign currency loans is higher than the market average.

According to Maksym Tsymbal, the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% programme remains popular, although its share is decreasing due to the updated conditions. At the same time, the bank continues to work actively within the programme: a decision has been made recently to increase the internal limit by UAH 1 billion. The total volume of the Pivdenny portfolio within this programme already amounts to UAH 5 billion, or about 20%.

As for investment lending, there is also an increase in demand here - currently, in the portfolio of Pivdenny Bank, about 30% of projects are investments with a term of three years or more. This indicates that the business is ready to invest in development.

“Yes, there are still factors of uncertainty - the duration of the war, security risks, the deficit of the economically active population. But business is gradually restoring confidence. And this is already yielding results,” Maksym Tsymbal concluded.

We would like to remind you that Pivdenny Bank has become an official partner of the Forbes Money finance and investment forum. Within the framework of the forum, leading investors, financiers, and CEOs of the largest companies discussed macroeconomic scenarios for 2025–2026, new investment instruments, large deals, the search for new projects, and emerging trends.