The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said recently that the Swiss government has pledged over $22 million in financial support for the country's economic reforms.

Beatrice Maser Mallor, the head of the Swiss delegation to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's annual board meeting, pledged the support during a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation, which was led by NBU Governor Stepan Kubiv.

Mallor also unveiled plans to further increase technical assistance and offer additional financial resources to fund agrarian and energy sector projects and to help support small and medium-sized businesses. She also said that under the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, Switzerland is committed to taking further measures to prevent assets illegally acquired by corrupt officials from leaving Ukraine and to ensuring the return of stolen assets.

"The National Bank of Ukraine will take further steps towards consolidation in the Ukrainian banking sector," Kubiv said. "Ukraine is currently facing a very challenging period. At the same time, this period offers an opportunity to reform the financial sector, enhance the transparency of financial institutions' activities and improve the quality of corporate governance and risk management."

Kubiv said the NBU would create the conditions needed to resume lending to the real sector of the economy in the coming years.