“The renewed team wants to do something new and different.” Rozhkova commented on the situation in the NBU

The first deputy governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Yekaterina Rozhkova, confirmed on October 26 on Facebook the information that had previously appeared about the redistribution of powers in the National Bank.

“I am giving my personal comment on the decision to redistribute powers in the NBU. [замглавы НБУ] Dmitry Sologub did not support this decision. Why? First, this approach does not correspond to international best practices. Second, such a decision destroys collegiality and creates threats for the National Bank to make truly impartial decisions. And, finally, this does not correspond to the principles of independence that were established at the base of the transformation of the National Bank in 2014-2015 ”, he wrote.

The first deputy head of the BNU recalled that this transformation was carried out taking into account the requirements of the International Monetary Fund.

“This is the case when the unbearable thirst for innovation does not take global practices into account. The revamped team wants to do something completely new and unconventional. Perhaps this novel will make it onto the list of outstanding central banking practices in the world. Really I don’t want to miss this fact, “said Rozhkova. …

On October 21, Ekonomicheskaya Pravda reported that Rozhkova had been deprived of various powers to regulate the banking sector. In particular, six key departments were removed from subordination, transferring three divisions to the Rozhkova administration, which “are not essential in regulating banks.” The publication noted that 15 divisions of the regulator were subordinate to the head of the NBU, Kirill Shevchenko, that is, almost half of all structural units.

Before that, on October 2, the NBU council rebuked Rozhkova and Sologub and did not express confidence. The reason for this decision in the NBU was called “violation of the NBU regulations, the NBU employee code of ethics, the internal regulations for NBU employees, the violation of the requirements of the Labor Code.” According to Interfax-Ukraine, Shevchenko voted in favor of this decision.

Rozhkova said communication between her and Sologub with the media could be the reason for the reprimand. “Nothing seditious was expressed that was contrary to the “general line of the party.” We said that the independence of the NBU is about collegiality. That the new team needs a little time to work together. And things like that. Don’t you think that in 2020 they can be reprimanded for communicating with the media? Nor did he fully believe that censorship had reached the walls of the National Bank. But why be surprised if the decision was made “blatantly at night with an ax“, – she said.

Sologub called the announcement a reprimand and mistrust of him and Rozhkova as savagery. In an interview with “Interfax-Ukraine” published on September 24, he said that Kiev missed the chance to get two tranche of the IMF before the end of the year, so you should try to get one.

Commenting on the reprimands from Rozhkova and Sologub, the head of the NBU council, Bohdan Danylyshyn, said that “some are trying to impose personal views on society.

Board member Vitaly Shapran called the NBU board’s actions “pedagogical” and said that the censorship announcement and reprimand does not mean the dismissal of Rozhkova and Sologub. “If they change, seek our voices, work, come to us, explain their position to us, for example, then anything is possible in the future,” Shapran said.

The IMF reacted to the reprimand of Rozhkova and Sologub. The Fund’s Resident Representative in Ukraine, Josta Lyngman, recalled that the criteria for the management of the National Bank of Ukraine were developed in consultation with the IMF specialists, and urged adherence to them.

According to Shevchenko, Rozhkova and Sologub were reprimanded for violating the communications policy.

Shevchenko was appointed head of the NBU on July 16, 2020.