During a meeting of the Crimean Cabinet of Ministers on March 11 Mykola Denysevych, Deputy Head of the Crimean Department of the National Bank of Ukraine, said that in 1997 the number of banking establishments in the Crimea decreased by 9.8%. In 1997, an action was brought concerning the bankruptcy of the Krymbank joint stock commercial bank. Mr. Denysevych said that liquidation committees continued their work on Feodosiya's Azcherkombank and Sevastopol's Tserkovny (Church) Bank. The Krymyurt Bank and two subsidiaries of the United Commercial Bank finished 1997 with losses.
Nevertheless, said Mr. Denysevych, most of the financial institutions working in the Crimea improved their figures in 1997. The currency balance of Crimean banks and banking institutions increased by 16.5% in 1997 and bank capital by 18.5%. The volumes of credit operations in the national currency grew by 12.3% and in foreign currency by 35%. The volume of operations at the Crimean Stock Exchange was 57.8% higher. According to Mykola Denysevych, in Crimea there are currently 131 banking establishments, including 12 banks that are legal entities.






