In connection with the adoption of the new version of the Law of Ukraine "On Credit Unions" and the World Day of Credit Cooperation, a round table meeting was held on October 19, 2023 in the building of the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and on its platform: "Credit unions for military personnel - urgent the need of the Army!"
The round table was devoted to the problem of creating legislative conditions for the creation (registration) of a network of non-profit specialized financial institutions (credit unions) that will provide financial services to military personnel, their family members and veterans of the armed forces.
The initiator and co-organizers of the round table were the All-Ukrainian Association of Credit Institutions of Military Servicemen and Employees of the Armed Forces and the public association "From the Bottom to Up". The event was attended by leading scientists, researchers of the financial market, representatives of state institutions related to the solution of the main task - creating opportunities for development on the basis of credit unions as an organizational and legal form, a certain subsystem of providing financial services to military personnel and members of their families, veterans of the armed forces.
For this purpose, it was proposed to make changes to the already new version of the Law of Ukraine "On Credit Unions", which introduces the concept of "military credit union" into the legislation by expanding the interpretation of the concept of the circle (signs) of membership in a credit union.
In the future, it is proposed to create a system of credit unions for military personnel based on the model that has been successfully developed in the United States of America for 60 years. This system can be a source of enormous positive experience, share knowledge, technologies, a system of continuous analysis of the needs of this extremely important category of citizens and the development and improvement of financial products.
After all, the community of military personnel, unlike the civilian population, during the performance of professional duties intensively moves from one place of service to another, sometimes together with members of their family, and during the performance of combat tasks - without them.
These people lose their professional suitability relatively early due to age, and therefore the problem of professional adaptation arises for them after being released from the reserve. They need treatment and rehabilitation as a result of the injuries received, and the state guarantees payment of significant sums of money to their families in the event of the death of a serviceman. In addition, savings and credit accounts of this category of citizens require special attention regarding their confidentiality regime.
Practically all participants in the discussion, including the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, ex-Minister of Defense of Ukraine Yury Ivanovich Yekhanurov, expressed their support for this idea.
The key beneficiaries of the project - the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, had questions about the vision of how to build such a system, but they have already started a productive dialogue in this direction and agreed to receive additional information.
Representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine, the specialized committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (who also expressed a desire to discuss), the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Veterans and experts of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics also took an active part in the discussion.
Denis Gaevsky, an expert of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics, who was present at the round table, noted: "The development of the system of credit unions for military personnel should be considered in the broader context of the development of the financial market of Ukraine. The financial market must ensure the fulfillment of key tasks that are particularly important in the context of overcoming the consequences of the war - stimulating investment activity, lending to the real sector of the economy, mortgage availability. Without fundamental changes in the financial market - in the banking and non-banking sectors, in the insurance industry, in the sphere of securities circulation - the reconstruction of the country will be extremely difficult."
Representatives of public organizations, commercial institutions, who see the potential for the development of the insurance services market, builders, bar associations, and security firms, who see a partnership through the activation of credit unions, are also watching the process with interest.
