OREANDA-NEWS. The amount of highly liquid assets held by the Corporate Non-State Pension Fund of the National Bank of Ukraine (hereinafter - the Fund) proves sufficient to secure its ability to pay out current and future retirement benefits to its participants.

Oleh Kurinnyi, newly appointed Director of Directorate of the Fund, has provided assurances that the Fund is currently solvent and will remain sound over the long run.

The net asset value of the Fund is currently estimated at UAH 1.7 billion, including UAH 250 million in highly liquid assets (deposits placed with state-owned banks and government securities); UAH 500 million in bank deposits, and the remainder - mid-term and long-term assets (corporate bonds, shares, and real estate).

The amount of monthly retirement benefits paid out to the Fund participants in November 2014 accounted for 2% of the total amount of highly liquid assets held by the Fund (as of 28.11.2014).

With a view of conducting an impartial assessment of assets and determining their fair value as at the end of 2014, one of the Big Four audit firms will be hired to carry out an audit of the Fund over the next three months. Following the audit findings, the assets might be subject to revaluation.

"Overall, the asset quality hinges on the economic situation and actions by the management. However, on the whole, it is commensurate with the asset quality of the banking system. There are no grounds for concerns. The Fund will maintain sufficient liquidity to ensure the payment of retirement benefits, even if the assets held by the Fund are subject to significant revaluation. However, it should be taken into account that following the revaluation of assets, the share of assets held by each Pension Fund participant will be subject to adjustment," said Oleh Kurinnyi.

In addition, the Fund is set to streamline its investment policy with regard to the main investment vehicles to allocate idle funds towards in an effort to mitigate risks triggered by the crisis developments and preserve the funds held by the Fund participants. "The Fund intends to invest in highly secure instruments (deposits placed with state-owned banks, short- and mid-term government securities. The remaining assets will be subject to revaluation, and then will be sold or left in the portfolio, depending on the economic feasibility of each scenario for the Fund and its participants. In any case, the transparency of all actions will be ensured by the involvement of the international consulting companies that render support services in the conduct of these operations," emphasized Oleh Kurinnyi.

Following the audit conducted in October 2014, the former Director of Directorate of the Fund has been dismissed. The National Bank of Ukraine is currently carrying out an investigation into the efficiency of investment decisions and business practices of the former management team of the Fund.