The criminal proceedings opened by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) in 2019 were a tool of pressure on the head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), who refused to comply with the requirements of the Office of the President on hryvnia emission, lowering the discount rate and other regulatory decisions within the competence of the NBU. As a result, intensification of the NABU investigation forced Kyrylo Shevchenko to resign. This is stated in the article "Who wants to become the main banker" by the Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli (The Mirror of the Week).
"Shevchenko didn't fit in right away. Everywhere. Neither in the NBU, where Rozhkova was in full swing during the time of Smoliy. Nor in the Office of the President, where, after receiving several refusals to stupid requests, they decided that Shevchenko is not a team player and does not suit Bankova. That is why talks about Shevchenko’s resignation began immediately after his appointment," notes the author of the article, ZN.UA economy editor Yulia Samaieva.
According to her, the Office of the President was unable to take control of Shevchenko, and so eventually decided to remove him from his position.
"At the same time, the mentioned NABU case was investigated on a regular basis, but somehow not very successfully, being used to put pressure on the head of the central bank. Two years and three months later, the President used the same case to finally press and offer Shevchenko to step down before he was handed a suspicion and protect the National Bank from unnecessary scandals," reads the article.
As the newspaper stresses, there were no objective reasons for the dismissal of the head of the National Bank of Ukraine both before and during the war.
"The NBU board was quite effective. They replenished foreign currency reserves, which is really helping us now. They succeeded in fighting for profitability of the banks, and everything here did not collapse in the early days (of the war). The pandemic passed without any shocks. In a timely and exemplary manner, all IMF requirements were fulfilled. They brought order to the wild market of non-banking financial services", says Yulia Samaieva.
The publication reminds that the management of the NBU could ensure stable operation of the banking system during the full-scale war.
"Since the beginning of the big war in Ukraine, the banking system has been working steadily. It is really worthy of respect with such losses of territories and GDP, the crisis in the labour market, the migration crisis, logistical problems, etc. Just imagine that the USD/UAH exchange rate could have been 45 in July, and now – over 55", says the author of the article convincingly.
The article points out several reasons for Shevchenko’s resignation as head of the National Bank, including the failure to meet the requirements of the Office of the President and the refusal to issue hryvnias.
"Remember why and how Smoliy resigned. He was being forced to issue. Remember Shevchenko before the war – there were the same problems. But, to put it mildly, now is not the best time for such fun," says the journalistic material.
The position of Shevchenko, as predicted by the journalist, will be taken by the godfather of Yarmak’s child, Andrii Pyshnyi.
"The worst thing is that there is not even any intrigue about the next head of the NBU. Of course, you will be given the standard list of candidates, including Markarova, Milovanov, Pisaruk, and Nikolaichuk. But this is only a crowd, creating the entourage of the competition. Since none of them is a godfather of Andrii Yermak’s child. Unlike Andrii Pyshnyi. Since 2020, Yermak has been trying hard to find a job for the godfather of his child. His obsession was to return him to Oshchadbank. Then he came to the NBU. Then to Ukreximbank. Then the NBU again. But here’s what is frustrating. Unlike the non-team-player Shevchenko, Pyshnyi is a team player in an excessive way. And he is too close to Yermak, who has already covered everything possible," says Yulia Samaieva.