National Bank official who threatened a military man has been on sick leave for a month - media

Pavel Poliarush, the head of the National Bank's Department for Problem Assets , who threatened Belarusian volunteer soldier Andrei Tratsevski, has been on sick leave for almost a month. At the same time, he did not submit a letter of resignation to the NBU management. This is stated in the response of the National Bank to the request of the online edition OBOZ.UA, according to UNN.

Context

On September 26, Belarusian volunteer Andrei Tratsevsky (Bezsmertny) said that he was threatened by drunk Pavel Poliarush. The incident occurred on the road near one of the capital's residential complexes. According to him, the NBU official jumped in front of the military, blocked the traffic, started fighting and said that he would shoot him in the legs with his award weapon. Polarush denied everything. Another video published by the military shows that police officers inspecting Polarush's car found an object that looked like a gun. According to Tratsevsky, Poliarush allegedly said that he would "buy everyone" and said in front of law enforcement officers that "all Belarusian volunteers will either go back to Belarus or kneel in Pokrovsk." Videos of the incident went viral on social media and caused outrage among users. They demanded a reaction from the NBU leadership to the incident.

The Kyiv police told UNN that they had opened criminal proceedings under the articles "threatening to kill" and "inflicting light bodily harm" and drew up a report against Polarush for driving under the influence. In addition, law enforcement officers confirmed that they had seized a weapon from the official.

The National Bank of Ukraine limited itself to a brief statement hinting that Polarush would not be prosecuted because the "incident" in which he was involved was "not related to the performance of professional duties" and occurred during off-hours.

In order to calm down the outraged Ukrainians, the NBU added that it would conduct an internal investigation. However, no condemnation of the situation was expressed. Later, it became known that Polarush personally apologized to Tratsevsky, the conflict was resolved, and the parties filed applications with law enforcement agencies to close criminal proceedings.

In response to a request from the online media outlet, Oleksandr Palamarchuk, director of the National Bank's security department, confirmed the information about the settlement of the conflict and said that Polarush had been on sick leave since September 27.

"Open sources also contain information referring to a comment to the media by the Darnytsia Police Department of the Kyiv City Police on the closure of criminal proceedings following an appeal by A. Tratsevsky. A few days ago, Andrii Tratsevskyi posted a message on his social media confirming that the situation had been resolved. This information was also verified as part of an internal audit," Palamarchuk said, adding that the NBU had received confirmation from the police that the criminal proceedings against Polarush had been closed.

He also noted that the internal investigation into Polarush is still ongoing. Palamarchuk clarified that the standard term for an official inspection at the National Bank is 20 working days, but it can be extended if necessary. At the same time, he said, only two measures can be applied to a National Bank employee for violation of labor discipline - a reprimand or dismissal.

"The official investigation into the circumstances of the incident that occurred on September 26, 2024 between Pavel Polarush, Head of the NBU's Department for Work with Troubled Assets, and Andrei Tratsevsky, a Belarusian volunteer , is being conducted by employees of the Security Department, but employees of other departments of the National Bank may be involved if necessary. The involvement of government officials and other persons in the internal audit is not provided for by the NBU's regulations," Palamarchuk said.

The NBU clarified that Polarush was not suspended at the time of the internal audit and added that the official did not submit a resignation letter on his own initiative. In addition, the NBU noted that Polarush had not previously been subject to any official inspection and had not received any incentives or disciplinary sanctions.

At the same time, the National Bank did not say whether law enforcement officers had returned the weapon seized from Polarush, and also kept silent about the protocol drawn up by the police against the official for driving under the influence.

Palamarchuk also hinted that Polarush is unlikely to be disciplined for the conflict with the military. "In view of the above and before the completion of the official inspection, it is premature to raise the issue of disciplinary action against Pavlo Polarush," he said.

Add

The conflict with the military is not the only scandal involving NBU officials. For more than a year now, there has been no communication from the regulator or its chairman, Andriy Pyshnyi, regarding the criminal proceedings against Oleksandr Zyma, director of the NBU's legal department, for possible abuse of power and office, which led to serious consequences.

The case was opened due to letter from Zyma to the Deposit Guarantee Fund. In the document, Zyma, who is also the chief lawyer of the National Bank and the chairman of the Administrative Council of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, recommended on behalf of the National Bank that the Deposit Guarantee Fund withdraw the lawsuits filed by Concord Bank against the National Bank of Ukraine.

It was about four lawsuits in which Concorde demanded to cancel fines totaling almost UAH 63.5 million. They were filed even before the National Bank decided to liquidate Concorde and put it into temporary administration.  

The DGF followed the recommendation it received on behalf of the regulator. The letter contained the digital signature of Oleksandr Zyma, who is also the chairman of the Deposit Guarantee Fund's Administrative Board, which appoints and dismisses its management.

In this way, Zyma may have called into question the independence of the Deposit Guarantee Fund's management, which now has a negative impact on cooperation with international financial institutions. It is possible that, for example, the IMF, due to its dissatisfaction with the situation, has begun to actively demand that Ukraine develop a procedure and hold an open competition for the position of the DGF Managing Director. By the way, according to media reports, it was Pavlo Polarush who was the main contender for the position of the Fund's Managing Director.

In addition, according to Concorde co-owner Olena Sosedka, Zima deprived the bank's shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial by his instructions. 

Currently, Zyma's case has been transferred from the SBI to the Pechersk Police Department of Kyiv for investigation. Law enforcement officers told UNN that they plan to identify the victims and interrogate the chief lawyer of the National Bank. Also, after Zyma is served with a notice of suspicion, investigators will file a petition with the court to remove him from his duties as director of the NBU's legal department.

It is worth noting that in the situation with Zyma, the National Bank's management is not only silent, but does not even conduct an internal audit. Moreover, experts interviewed by UNN suggest that there is political influence and attempts to delay the investigation in order to eventually "merge" the criminal proceedings altogether. 

"The NBU is headed by a person who was the head of Oschadbank, which has never spoiled us with its good performance. A bank that was always on the verge of bankruptcy, and the state simply propped it up (financed it - ed.), and a person with such professional experience became the head of the NBU. What do we want? Now all the subordinates, and the chief lawyer is a person who is close to the chairman, personally fulfill his tasks. That's why he is protected, he (Zyma - ed.) is protected in advance, because he works in a system that is built for corruption, and under certain obligations to him that he will be protected from persecution," security expert Serhiy Shabovta noted .