The case of the NBU's chief lawyer: the regulator has not yet responded to criminal proceedings

Last week, Ukrainians were outraged by a conflict between Pavel Polarush, head of the NBU's Department for Work with Troubled Assets, and Belarusian volunteer Andrei Tratsevsky (Bezsmertny), during which the official threatened the latter with military retaliation. However, this is not the only violation committed by NBU officials. The regulator has not yet responded to the criminal case against the director of the NBU's legal department, Oleksandr Zyma, for alleged abuse of office, UNN reports.

Belarusian volunteer Andrei Tratsevsky (Bezsmertny) said that he was threatened by Pavel Poliarush, a drunken head of the NBU's Department for Work with Troubled Assets. The incident occurred on the road near one of the capital's residential complexes. According to him, Poliarush jumped in front of a military officer, blocked 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 the NBU leadership's reaction to the incident.

The Kyiv police told UNN that 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.

After the conflict between the NBU official and the military became public, the NBU leadership responded. They said they would conduct their own investigation into the incident. They emphasized that the conflict took place outside of working hours and was not related to Polarush's professional duties.

Not Polarush alone

At the same time, the National Bank's leadership is stubbornly ignoring another scandal involving one of its subordinates. It is about the NBU's chief lawyer, Oleksandr Zyma.

Earlier , UNN reported on the criminal proceedings being investigated on the fact of possible abuse of office by Zyma. The case concerns a letter from the National Bank to the Deposit Guarantee Fund signed by Zyma, in which he recommended that the Fund withdraw the lawsuits filed by Concord Bank against the NBU.  The document referred to four lawsuits filed by the bank against the NBU, in which Concorde demanded the cancellation of 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. 

Despite the fact that the case has been under investigation for more than 9 months, the NBU management has never communicated with the public about possible violations committed by Zyma. The NBU also did not report any internal audits or investigations into the actions of the institution's chief lawyer. This is probably due to the fact that Zyma's case did not cause such widespread outrage, unlike the sensitive topic of threats to a military officer.

Moreover, in addition to the stubborn disregard for the situation on the part of the National Bank's management, strange things are happening with Zyma's criminal proceedings. In particular, the State Bureau of Investigation has been ignoring the April 22 decision of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv, which recognized Yulia Sosedka , co-founder of Concord Bank, as a victim in this case, for more than 4 months. According to Concorde's co-owner, Yelena Sosedka, Zima deprived the bank's shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial by his instructions. 

And then, before receiving a new ruling, in which the court ordered investigators to hand Yulia Sosiedka the victim's memorial within 72 hours, the SBI sent the case to the police department in the Pechersk district of Kyiv. Yulia Sosiedka does not rule out that this is an attempt to delay the investigation into the case.

The same opinion is shared by lawyers interviewed by UNN. In particular, according to managing partner of GRACERS, attorney Serhii Lysenko, the transfer of the case from the SBI to the district police department may indicate attempts to delay it.

Dumping the case at the district police department is a direct way to hide and bury the case. And, unfortunately, in most cases, they succeed

It is possible that the attempts to delay are related to the fact that Zyma not only holds a senior position but also has close ties to NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi, as they worked together at Oschadbank before joining the National Bank. Security expert Serhiy Shabovta does not rule out that law enforcement will not prosecute Zyma properly because he is a man of NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi.

In Ukraine, the NBU was headed by a person who was the head of Oschadbank, which 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 corrupt purposes, and under certain obligations to him that he will be protected from persecution

So the question arises as to why the NBU management has such different approaches to violations committed by its subordinates