The Universal Bank for Development and Partnership (UBDP), managed by Bank of Georgia, has changed its name to BG Bank, according to the data reported by web site of the bank.

"OJSC UBDP was given another name as OJSC BG Bank. BG Bank gets all rights and obligations of UBDP," the report proclaims.

The National Bank of Ukraine has officially registered a new title of the bank.

The Universal Bank for Development and Partnership was found and certified in 1994. Its major shareholder as of October 1, 2008, was National Bank of Georgia (99%).

According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1, 2008, in terms of total assets (UAH 1.129 billion) the bank ranked 67th among the 182 banks operating in Ukraine.

As for hryvnia condition the National Bank of Ukraine says, further falls in the value of the hryvnia would greatly increase the level of bad credit, which even now is about 40% of the consolidated credit portfolio of the bank system, BG Bank (Kyiv, part of BOG Group) President Kostyantyn Poloskov reported at the press conference on Tuesday.

"By current exchange rate 40% of credits would be non-performing credits. If it grows then this amount may reach 80% of the portfolio," he added.

According to his words, main difficulties appeared with car credits, mortgages and property investment credits. Simultaneously there is no functioning Ukrainian property market, which makes it difficult to establish the real value of real estate.

The hardest period for credit-financial institutions, Poloskov mentioned, will be in 1st quarter of 2009: as the crisis is yet to hit the bottom.

A group of firms in the Bears Food Ingredients Concern submitted an appeal to court on a delay in payments by BG Bank (both located in Kyiv), the concern's press service has reported.

"Ukrainian companies have started opposing the willfulness of the banks during the term of the financial crisis. A group of firms of the Bears Food Ingredients Concern, which is one of the strongest and biggest food enterprises and semi-products producers in Ukraine, today submitted an appeal to Kyiv Economic Court against BG Bank, which has delayed the company's payments," says press release.

According to the press release, the claimed sum is about UAH 2.5 million.

"Bears Food Ingredients believes that the bank makes intensions to make the company illegally change the schedule of payments on a credit line worth over $6 million. BG Bank insists that a main part of the credit has to be paid in 2009, while these payments are awaited only in 2010. There is no clause in the credit agreement that permits the bank to change payment schedule unilaterally," says the release.