The National Bank of Ukraine has sent out a letter to commercial banks regulating the conduct of the bank’s management in the event one of its branches is heisted. The bank must report such incidents to the NBU main department on the day of the heist. Then, for two days nothing should be touched at the scene of the robbery until NBU representatives examine it and decide which security measures were lacking.
According to the Interior Ministry, commercial banks in Ukraine were robbed 78 times and the amount of stolen money was UAH 1.5 mn last year. Over the same period, according to the Ukrainian Credit and Banking Union, bank employees stole UAH 64.5 mn through fake loans, which is 43 times more. There are around 20,000 bank branches in Ukraine. Their managers estimate that re-equipping and installing security systems will cost a minimum of UAH 2 bn. This money will in the end be paid to suppliers of security equipment and the police that provide security services.
Modern technical protection and security of one office requires on average UAH 100,000 per year. Meanwhile, it is easy to calculate that a bank loses an average of UAH 20,000 per heist. This means security measures will become profitable only after five heists of one branch, which cannot be expected from even the stupidest of robbers,” says expert at the International Center for Policy Studies Oleksandr Zholud.
No matter what letters the NBU sends, the security of cashiers and cash logistics companies is at the moment not lucrative for banks. Most likely the banks will simply decide to keep less cash in their offices and clients will be limited to ordering small amounts for withdrawal in advance.