Expert: The presence of officials in the NBU against whom criminal cases are being investigated negatively affects negotiations on financial assistance to Ukraine

The presence of officials in the National Bank of Ukraine against whom criminal proceedings are being investigated negatively affects the negotiation process with international creditors and donors on the allocation of financial assistance to our country. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Vitaliy Kulyk, Director of the Center for Civil Society Studies.

Our partners do not care. This (the existence of criminal cases against NBU officials - ed.) affects the atmosphere of negotiations and readiness for any quality dialogue,

He added that it is important for foreign partners to feel the stability of the NBU and the availability of guarantee mechanisms when negotiating the allocation of funds to Ukraine. In particular, when there is a sense that the institution is supported by the government, negotiations are much more efficient and effective.

If international partners realize that the NBU has staff turnover or some suspense due to criminal cases against NBU officials, Kulyk said, they will put forward stricter requirements, more clearly defined rules, rely more on commitments, certain external guarantee mechanisms, etc.

This situation also leads to the fact that international financial institutions do not want to communicate directly with the heads of the NBU's structural units, but rather rely on institutional dialog.

On the one hand, this removes the personal, emotional factor, as they say, but on the other hand, it does not allow us to negotiate more effectively with our external partners, including creditors and donors. Because they see all our assurances or political statements as white noise, not as the result of an implemented policy,

Recall

The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv recognized Yulia Sosedka, co-founder of Concord Bank, as a victim in the criminal proceedings over alleged abuse of power or office that led to grave consequences, according to Oleksandr Zyma, director of the legal department of the National Bank of Ukraine.

As UNN reported, the criminal case concerns a letter from the National Bank of Ukraine to the Deposit Guarantee Fund signed by Oleksandr Zyma, in which he recommended that the Fund withdraw the lawsuits filed by Concord against the NBU. The document referred to four lawsuits filed by Concorde Bank against the NBU, in which the bank demanded the cancellation of fines totaling almost UAH 63.5 million. These lawsuits were filed before the NBU decided to liquidate Concorde and put it under temporary administration.

Olena Sosiedka, co-founder of JSCB Concorde, stated that the National Bank of Ukraine ignored the proposals of the shareholders of Concorde Bank before its liquidation, and then, on the regulator's instructions, they were deprived of the right to a fair trial.