National Bank of Ukraine Governor Andrii Pyshnyi said he has not written and does not plan to write a resignation letter. In a post on Facebook, published on 4 November, he said he had no intention of leaving his post “under political pressure”. A day earlier, MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak reported that an agenda circulated to MPs included an item on dismissing the NBU governor on 12 November.
Pyshnyi recalled that, under the law, the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine performs his duties for a seven-year term, and there is an exhaustive list of grounds for early dismissal. He believes that now, as the issue of his resignation has again appeared in the public space “against the backdrop of prolonged political pressure, manipulation, a targeted and co-ordinated smear campaign, what is being tested is not someone’s readiness to leave office, but the real effectiveness of protective mechanisms and safeguards, and the state’s ability to adhere to the rules set out in law”.
“I respect parliament’s right to oversight, society’s right to ask questions, and a public official’s duty to answer for their decisions. I am ready for a substantive conversation about the results of my work, including the difficult and unpopular decisions that had to be taken during the war. We have nothing to be ashamed of and we have something to say. But the independence of the National Bank cannot be subordinated to the wishes of individual politicians and cannot depend on how satisfied they are with the NBU’s decisions, regardless of whatever political, administrative or media influence they may have,” he said.
Pyshnyi promised to inform the public when his term ends, and to provide a report and appropriate comments.
Why are people talking again about a possible resignation by Andrii Pyshnyi?
Andrii Pyshnyi was appointed NBU Governor in October 2022, so his term is not yet coming to an end. In August this year, Bloomberg published a report saying the President had been considering replacing the NBU Governor. This came amid an anti-corruption investigation involving the management of the state-owned Sense Bank, but journalists cited other reasons: alleged dissatisfaction with Pyshnyi’s closeness to the IMF, as well as his public activity and what was seen as insufficient support for the wartime economy. At the same time, the report said the idea of dismissing him had been abandoned. This was also confirmed by LB sources, who said that the President had indeed theoretically considered such an idea, but there are no alternatives to the current head of the regulator.
On 23 August, Zelenskyy told journalists that he had not initiated a replacement of the NBU Governor, but that Andrii Pyshnyi has “difficult relations with the government and the Verkhovna Rada. And generally with government positions”.
“Because the position of the National Bank under him and the position of the Ministry of Finance are very different on many issues. And at difficult moments between them, I was asked to resolve the situation, and I resolved it all these years. But now, when various information campaigns have already begun that want to influence something, I am no longer involved in setting up dialogue between these institutions. Let them understand that they need to think about stability in the state, not about information campaigns,” he said.
On 3 November, MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak reported that the circulated agenda for Thursday does indeed list consideration of the NBU Governor’s resignation. At the same time, he pointed out that personnel matters are usually placed first on a plenary day, whereas this vote is listed 25th. In his view, this demonstrates uncertainty around the issue. He also noted that the parliamentary temporary investigative commission (TIC) had long since handed all materials relating to Sense Bank over to law enforcement.