the Ukrainian assets, estimated the Ukrainian UniCredit in the 0.7-1 billion USD, but
was ready to make a large discount [8] .
K. Vivaldi, the CEO of UniCredit's banking business in the CEE, links the sale
with UniCredit losses in Ukraine due to the deep economic recession under the
influence of geopolitical tension and eastern conflict, as well as currency depreciation,
loss of confidence in politicians and deterioration of the business environment, that all
together affect the banking sector. According to Vivaldi, the deal will eventually help
the group to return investments brought in Ukraine, and the essence of the deal is to
exchange Ukrainian assets to Russian, as Italians expect the recovery of the Russian
economy faster than Ukrainian [8].
The strategy of the Italian banks in Ukraine was slightly different from other
European banks in the Ukrainian market (for example, French), that made them unable
to withstand the difficult economic conditions and forced them to sell their assets. At
the times of entering the Ukrainian market, the Italians bought large banks, which in
2008 were significantly affected by the crisis and found themselves in a large number
of non-performing loans and non-creditworthy clients, unlike French banks that bought
small Ukrainian banks with a small number of customers and at low cost.
3. Influence of EU financial integration on the stability of the Italian
banking system. Under the influence of European monetary and financial integration
along with other members of the EMU, Italy has committed itself to comply with the
Maastricht convergence criteria. The commitment was streghtened by Stability and
Growth Pact after the third phase of the EMU in 1999. The requirement is to support
an annual budget deficit of no more than 3%, national debt of no more than 60%, and
inflation should not exceed the corresponding indicators of the three best (in terms of
price stability) member countries by more than 1,5%.
However, according to Table 3, Italy does not fully fulfill the convergence
criteria – national debt over the period 2011-2016 exceeded 60% almost twice and at
the end of the period reached a maximum of 132%. The budget deficit in this period
corresponded to the requirment (except for 2011) and ammounted 2.4% in 2016. The
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