The National Bank of Ukraine has ruled that Oleksii Stupak, Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Sense Bank, does not meet the qualification requirements for professional suitability.
The relevant decision was adopted by the National Bank’s Committee on Supervision and Regulation of Banks’ Activities on 1 September 2026, the NBU said in an official statement.
The decision was taken following administrative proceedings launched by the National Bank in early May 2026 to assess whether Stupak complied with the qualification requirements set out in law.
The procedure was initiated on the basis of information obtained by the NBU while supervising the bank’s activities. This includes, in particular, identified breaches of Ukrainian legislation and the National Bank’s regulatory legal acts, including during the period before the bank’s nationalisation.
The NBU said these breaches may indicate a failure to adhere to the principles of sound corporate governance, openness and transparency in the activities of SENSE BANK.
The regulator also pointed to Oleksii Stupak’s involvement in non-transparent management practices and his improper performance of the duties of Chairman of the Management Board, which, in the NBU’s assessment, creates heightened regulatory and reputational risks.
The National Bank’s decision includes a requirement for JSC Sense Bank, represented by its shareholder — the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine — to take immediate steps to terminate Oleksii Stupak’s powers.
Commenting on this requirement during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada’s Temporary Investigative Commission, NBU Governor Andrii Pyshnyi said the Government has sufficient powers to take such a decision, given the requirements of Ukraine’s Law No. 3587-IX “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving Corporate Governance”.
The bank must also elect or appoint another person to the position of Chairman of the Management Board.
What We Know
- Stupak has been served with a notice of suspicion in a case concerning the laundering of funds that were paid as bail for former minister Herman Halushchenko. According to NABU, Stupak and Mykola Hladyshenko, in collusion with former MP Maksym Mykytas, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra and other members of a criminal group, ensured the payment of bail of 150 million hryvnias, obtained illegally, for Halushchenko, who is a suspect in a corruption case at Energoatom.
- Part of the funds were channelled through Sense Bank — the former Russian Alfa-Bank, which became state-owned as a result of nationalisation. To move the funds, automatic financial monitoring was switched off, and it was not carried out manually either.
- On 19 August, the government suspended Hladyshenko. The Cabinet of Ministers also initiated Stupak’s suspension.
- On 20 August, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said the Ministry of Finance had been tasked by the government with stepping up the process of selling Sense Bank.