KIEV, May 25 – Remittances to Ukraine by Ukrainians working abroad came to 4.6% of GDP in 2009, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.

"The ratio between private remittances to Ukraine's GDP in 2009 stood at 4.6%, rising by 1.2 percentage notches on the previous year, mainly thanks to the fall of GDP in dollars [by 35.7%] exceeding the fall of overall money transfers [by 13.1%]," reads the report.

The NBU said that private remittances refer to international remittances and fund inflows to households (in monetary form and in kind) sent through official and illegal channels. The NBU estimated that the funds that are not transferred through the banking system account for 15-16% of total inflows.