The authorities should stop pushing their own people to the post of the head of the Deposit Guarantee Fund - Yuzhanina

Ukraine will face major problems until the government abandons the practice of mutual responsibility, including in the appointment of heads of state institutions such as the Deposit Guarantee Fund. The heads should be professionals with an impeccable reputation. This opinion was expressed by Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, in an exclusive commentary to UNN.

Context

In September, an IMF mission will start working in Ukraine in preparation for the fifth review of the Extended Fund Facility program. The expert discussions will focus on Ukraine's implementation of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies. One of the points of the document is to develop a procedure and hold a competition for the head of the DGF in the spring of 2025.

In fact, such positions, not only in the DGF, but also in many government agencies, should be held by professional, honest people with a positive reputation

The MP added that the current situation in Ukraine is that the government is covering up for its own people and trying to push them into positions instead of choosing professionals. Therefore, Yuzhanina believes that the new rules for the competition for the position of managing director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund are unlikely to change this approach.

I don't even see any benefit in the new rules of the competition, because the person they (the authorities - ed.) have already nominated and decided to have there will win anyway. This is the problem of our society. When we move away from this practice, there will be no such practice of circular support, "everyone is a friend, everyone covers each other," until then we will face huge problems in Ukraine

She also added that she did not know whether any of the members of the Rada's tax committee had worked on amendments to the legislation to develop a procedure for holding a competition for the position of the head of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, as required by the IMF.

Recall

Following the dismissal of Svitlana Rekrut as Managing Director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, her deputy, Olga Bilay, is acting as the head. According to media reports, despite the IMF's demands, the Fund's Administrative Board plans to appoint a new head in a closed session. Currently, two main candidates are being considered - Bilay and Pavlo Polarush, head of the National Bank's Department for Work with Troubled Assets, who is called by journalists the main contender for this post. 

According to media reports, Polarush repeatedly traveled abroad after the start of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. In particular, journalists reported that in November 2022, he received permission to leave the country from the odious former Deputy Minister of Defense, who is currently a suspect in corruption crimes. The permit was allegedly issued to Polarush to travel abroad in an elite Lexus car to receive humanitarian aid. However, it is not yet known on what grounds Polarush traveled abroad from February to November 2022.

Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Mykola Velychkovych believesthat law enforcement should investigate Polarush's travels abroad. A member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense, Hennadiy Kasai , does not rule out that Polarush may have problems during the special vetting process as a candidate for the position of managing director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund.