Trends in the Development of the Regional Banking System of Ukraine in the Context of Wartime

The aim of the article is to survey the trends and disproportions in the development of the regional banking system under wartime conditions. It is proposed to examine the essential characteristics of the regional banking system from the perspectives of structuredness, its place and role in the banking and economic system of the country, functionality, socioeconomic efficiency, and its contribution to achieving sustainable development goals and financial inclusion. The regional banking system is defined as a holistic, systemic, hierarchically organized institutional formation of banks that operates within the country’s banking system and is integrated into the socioeconomic processes of the region, contributing to the formation of gross regional product, the achievement of sustainable development goals, and financial inclusion. It is analytically proven that the highest concentration of banks – legal entities is in the capital region, as well as in the Dnipropetrovsk, Transcarpathian, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions. The absence of banks – legal entities has been noted in many regions of Ukraine, in particular, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernivtsi regions. The volume of deposits has been analyzed, and it has been noted that in absolute terms, there has been an increase in virtually all regions of Ukraine, except for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as Luhansk and Kherson regions. It is ascertained that from 2022 to 2024, the volume of loans increased in virtually all regions, except for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions. The calculation by authors of the coefficients of A. Salai and K. Hatiev allowed confirming that the deposit and credit activities of banking institutions in Ukraine under wartime conditions, across regions, were characterized by insignificant structural changes and disparities, and there have been no radical changes in the regional structure of the banking system of Ukraine concerning the dynamics of deposit and credit activities. Further research should be directed towards developing strategic directions for evolving the potential of the regional banking system for modernizing the economy and addressing social and environmental issues.