OREANDA-NEWS. January 20, 2012. During a two-day official isit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Arbuzov held a working meeting with the senior managers of commercial banks and large investment companies in the Kingdom.

In the course of the meeting, Sergiy Arbuzov gave a presentation on “Priorities Set by the National Bank of Ukraine with regard to Stabilizing the Financial Market and Overcoming Crisis Developments in the Economy” and informed the participants about investments initiatives undertaken by the National Bank of Ukraine.

The representatives from the Saudi Arabian companies and banks emphasized the timeliness of the visit by the Ukrainian side and highly appreciated openness and the initiatives undertaken by the National Bank of Ukraine. In particular, information concerning new exchange rate monetary policy instruments, mechanisms allowing investors to invest in agricultural industries, the possibilities of bank capital coming to Ukraine generated interest among the meeting participants. It is important to mention that all the monetary initiatives undertaken by the National Bank of Ukraine received a high appraisal from the Saudi Arabian partners.

When giving answers to questions put by the meeting participants, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Arbuzov drew attention to the peculiarities of the land reform in Ukraine, in particular, to the mechanism for the establishment of a land bank.

 “The National Bank and Government of Ukraine strive to create a clear-cut and transparent mechanism for providing support to Ukraine’s food security and ensuring social justice when using the land. Therefore, the main functions of the State Land Bank will be the following: attraction of additional resources to the agricultural complex in the domestic and external markets as well as leasing land to an efficient user who will not alter the purpose of land use,” said Sergiy Arbuzov.

During the meeting with the senior managers of the Saudi Arabian banks, the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine said:”Owing to approaches to capital, which are being implemented by the National Bank of Ukraine, most provisions of Basel ІІІ with regard to the structure, components, quality and consistency (soundness) of the bank capital base as well as liquidity regulation have already been implemented. Requirements for the creation of additional capital buffers set forth under the Basel III regulations are planned to be implemented.

Sergiy Arbuzov emphasized that the National Bank of Ukraine is making efforts to implement the standards of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and best international practices. “Ukraine follows 30 Basel Core Principles in full and follows 25 principles partly,” added the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.

Sergiy Arbuzov met Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) Dr. Fahad AlMubarak. In the course of this meeting, the sides agreed to open correspondent accounts between the Ukreximbank and the Saudi Arabian banks. The Governor of the National bank of Ukraine and Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) emphasized that it would bring relations between the countries closer. It should be mentioned that at present there are no banks in Ukraine with capital from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and correspondent banking relationships have not been established with the banks in this country.

In addition to this, the sides reached an agreement on establishing direct trade relations between Ukraine and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which would accelerate, simplify and make cheaper settlements betweens enterprises in both countries.