Ukraine National Bank chief denies advisory role in Sense Bank pick, demands urgently called probe
National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Governor Andriy Pyshnyy denied providing recommendations or instructions to the Supervisory Board of Sense Bank regarding the appointment of Vasyl Vesely as an adviser on relations with government authorities and called on the temporary investigative commission (TIC) to hold a meeting with his participation without delay.
"I categorically deny providing any recommendations on personnel matters to the Supervisory Board of Sense Bank. I did not make any recommendations regarding the appointment of Vasyl Vesely as an adviser to the Supervisory Board, did not introduce him to the Supervisory Board, did not give instructions to Supervisory Board members regarding this or any other personnel decisions, and did not exert any pressure on the chairman or members of Sense Bank's Supervisory Board. Claims to the contrary are untrue," the NBU governor wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
Pyshnyy said that he confirmed the fact that he knew Vesely, which he had already mentioned earlier in response to a question from the head of the TIC.
The NBU governor said he was ready to personally attend a TIC meeting to provide explanations and called on the commission to consider such matters in his presence.
In response, TIC head and Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zhelezniak said he was ready to hold another meeting with the NBU governor, noting that participants would be informed in advance of the date and time of the hearing, which is expected to take place next week.
As reported, a TIC meeting with Pyshnyy's participation had already been held on September 2. At the time, he said he had known Vesely since the latter worked at Ukrposhta, but had not maintained a close relationship with him. In addition, the NBU governor said he had not communicated with Vesely on matters concerning finance and the banking sector.
At a TIC meeting on September 10, former Chairman of Sense Bank's Supervisory Board Şevki Acuner said during his testimony to the TIC that Pyshnyy had recommended Vesely as a candidate to improve the bank's communication with stakeholders and government authorities following the bank's nationalization.