(For part VI) Banking in Ukraine

It dates to March 1991 the Ukrainian Parliament passed the law On Bank and Banking Activities, determining this system as two-level, composed of the National Bank and commercial banks.

Starting from almost nil, when even Ukraine's Central Bank was little more than a transit for funds coming from Moscow, a new Ukrainian banking system has managed to materialise in just a few short years. It has been steadily developing and growing since 1989, and by November 1994, 227 banks were registered in Ukraine. These Financial institutions range from credit unions to full-scale banks offering up to 30 different type services.

The activity of these banks - most of them commercial - is overseen by the country's central bank, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Although the NBU is under jurisdiction of the country's legislature.

Two of the Ukraine's largest banks are still state-owned: Ukreximbank - the State Export - Import Bank of Ukraine, and Ukroshchadbank - the Ukrainian savings Bank. Ukreximbank specialises in international trade, providing wide scale services to over 11,000 clients. Currently, Ukreximbank controls an estimated 80% of all export - import operations of Ukrainian State-owned enterprises. It has correspondence accounts in 12 of the largest banks in Europe, North America and Asia.

Ukroshchadbank holds all the saving accounts for Ukraine's 48 mln citizens in branches that stretch across the country. It has also opened privatisation accounts for Ukrainians to take part in the privatisation drive. Plans are already underway by the NBU to turn Ukroshchadbank into a joint-stock company, which is expected to improve and widen its daily operations. When this happens Ukroshchadbank will join three other former state banks that have already turned into joint-stock companies: Prominvestbank, Ukraina, and Ukrsotsbank. The state still finaces many of its programmes through those banks.

Personal Finance

Sometimes in a shop they ask you: "How do you want to pay?". You can answer: "Cash/ By cheque/ By credit card".

In a bank you usually have a current account, which is one where you pay in your salary, then withdraw money to pay your everyday bills. The bank sends you a regular bank statement telling how much money is in your account. You may also have a saving account where you deposit any extra money that you have and only take money out when you want to spend it on something special. You usually try to avoid having an overdraft or you end up paying a lot of interest. If your account is overdrawn, you can be said to be in the red (as opposed to in the black or in credit).

Sometimes the bank may lend you money - this is called a bank loan. If the bank (or building society) lends you money to buy a house, that money is called a mortgage.

When you buy (or, more formally, purchase) something in a shop, you usually pay on credit. Sometimes you may be offered a discount or a reduction on something you buy at a shop. This means that you get, say, $10 off perhaps because you are a student. You are often offered a discount if you buy in bulk. It is not usual to haggle about prices in Britain shop, as it is in, say, a Turkish market. If you want to return something which you have bought to a shop, you may be given a refund, i.e. your money will be returned, provided you have a receipt. The money that you pay for services, e.g. to a school or a lawyer, is usually called a fee or fees; the money paid for a journey is a fare.

If you buy something that you feel was very good value, it's a bargain. If you feel that it is definitely not worth what you paid for it, that you can call it a rip-off (very colloquial).