KIEV, May 7 – The average number of employees in Ukrainian banks in Q1 was 224,300, which is 6.8% or 16,300 employees less than in the previous quarter, according to a posting on the Web site of the National Bank of Ukraine.

The report says that dismissals in the banking sector accelerated in January-March 2010 compared to October-December 2009, when the pace of dismissals was only 1.7%, or some 4,000.

Last year the banks cut their workforce by 14%, or 39,300.