Olena and Yulia Sosiedko are recognized as victims in the case against the Chief Lawyer of the National Bank

Co-founders of Concord Bank, which is in the process of liquidation, Olena and Yulia Sosedok were recognized as victims in the criminal proceedings against the chief lawyer of the National Bank Oleksandr Zyma, UNN reports.

"Dear friends, today is an important day for Olena and me. After many inquiries and a long struggle for justice, we have finally been recognized as victims in the criminal proceedings on the fact of possible abuse of power or official position by Oleksandr Zyma, Director of the Legal Department of the National Bank," Yulia Sosedka reported.

She recalled that Zyma had instructed the Deposit Guarantee Fund to withdraw from court the lawsuits filed against the NBU before the start of the liquidation process of Concord Bank.

"That is, in this way they tried to deprive us of the right to a fair trial. A criminal investigation was opened at our request, but for almost a year my sister and I were being held in custody as best we could. We made frantic efforts to defend our rights. We have finally been granted the status of victims in this criminal proceeding," said Yulia Sosedka.

She also emphasized that she and Olena Sosiedka would cooperate with the investigation as much as possible.

Recall

The case was initiated by Zyma's letter 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 under 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.

In addition, according to Concorde co-owner Olena Sosiedka, 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 in 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.