On October 21, on the occasion of the International Day of Credit Unions, scientific and pedagogical staff and students of the Department of Finance, Banking and Taxation of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” held a lively discussion of existing problems of the Ukrainian credit market, differences between existing models of commercial banks and credit unions status and prospects.
Students of the “Finance, Banking and Insurance” specialty of the Scientific and Research Institute of Finance, Economics, Management and Law, who study the disciplines “Money and Credit”, “Financial Market”, “Financial Services Market” talked constructively with Vladyslav Honcharenko, one of the founders of the credit unions movement in Ukraine, founder of the first credit union in Poltava “Mutual Aid Fund”, Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Artur Holikov Department of International Economic Relations at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
The invited speaker is the author of numerous monographs and scientific articles on credit cooperation, its organizational forms, international experience, problems and prospects of operation in Ukraine. He has repeatedly interned in the United States, Canada, Germany and studied the experience of credit unions functioning directly in practice.
During the meeting, Svitlana Yehorycheva, Doctor of Economics, Professor of Finance, Banking and Taxation at Poltava Polytechnic, drew students’ attention to this year’s slogan of the Credit Cooperation Day: “Building financial health for a brighter tomorrow”, which is consonant with the idea of increasing financial literacy that is now being actively implemented in Ukraine.
“Lecturers of our department pay a lot of attention to the practical training of specialists in the field of finance, so such motivational and educational meetings with students have become the rule of our daily professional life. Communication with scientists, practitioners and professionals in the field of finance provides an incentive to develop professionally, learn about the latest trends in the financial market of Ukraine and borrow the best national and European experience,” – noted the scientist.
The invited speaker interestingly, emotionally and in an accessible form explained to future financiers the fundamental differences in the models of commercial banks and credit unions, revealed the main aspects of the history of credit unions in the mid-nineteenth century, and told about such famous personalities as F.G. Schulze-Delich, the founder of the German Volksbanks and F.V. Raiffeisen, the founder of rural credit unions, which eventually formed the Austrian cooperative Raiffeisen Bank. Vladyslav Honcharenko talked about the history of credit unions in Ukraine, described their current state and urgent problems that need to be addressed.
Students were extremely interested in the information received, actively participated in the discussion, and some began to think seriously about the practical use of credit union services and consider them as a place of future employment.
The goal of the International Day of Credit Unions, launched in 1927 by the League of Credit Unions of Massachusetts (USA), is to raise awareness of the European and world community about the work of credit unions and financial cooperation. Since 1948, after the creation of the World Council of Credit Unions, this holiday has reached the international level. Currently, there are about 290 credit unions in Ukraine, with more than 380,000 members.
Earlier, members of the students’ scientific club discussed financial mechanisms and the consequences of monetary reform in Ukraine, the use of innovative financial mechanisms during crises and learned how to effectively plan expenses and to save them.
Media Center of
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
