KIEV, Nov. 24 ??“ Parliament??™s passage of a law allowing foreign bank branches to open in Ukraine does not threaten the national market and if the state wants to retain influence it should increase capitalization of state banks, a National Bank of Ukraine official said.

"There is no threat from this law, as it's impossible to draw an iron curtain in the epoch of globalization. In that case, the enterprises would enter the international markets and would receive credits abroad, and the state would earn nothing," First Deputy NBU Chairman Anatoliy Shapovalov told Interfax-Ukraine about the law, which was approved on Nov. 16.