KIEV, Jan. 13 – The planned toughening of requirements on banks' capital could be an obstacle in the way of creating a free-trade zone between Ukraine and the European Union, according to the Association of Ukrainian Banks (AUB).

"The innovations for banks [in draft law No. 0884] could be an obstacle to the creation of the free trade zone between Ukraine and the European Union," reads a posting on the association's Web site.

The report says that the draft law includes an almost seven-times increase of the minimum requirements for the capital of banks being created in Ukraine – from UAH 75 million to UAH 500 million. The AUB said that this would surpass EU requirements almost tenfold.