Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kyrylo Shevchenko named the defense of the nationalization of PrivatBank (Kyiv) and the return of funds from bankrupt banks as a priority in response to information in the media about the investigation of offenses allegedly committed by the governor of the NBU and his deputies.

"I want to emphasize: for me, as the governor of the NBU (I am sure it is the same for all previous heads of the regulator), the absolute priority is invariable – protecting the interests of the state, ensuring financial stability, protecting the nationalization of PrivatBank and returning funds from bankrupt banks," he wrote on Facebook on Friday evening, April 2.

He added that, together with the NBU team, he will continue taking all the required measures for the successful implementation of these tasks.

As reported by Radio Liberty with reference to the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), now the investigation against the governor of the NBU, his first deputy and one of the three deputy heads continues.

"The investigative bodies of the SBI, among other things, are performing a pretrial investigation of criminal offenses committed by the governor of the NBU, his first deputy and one more deputy. Within criminal proceedings, the investigators have not informed Kateryna Rozhkova that she will be prosecuted," the Radio Liberty said, quoting the response of the SBI to its inquiry.

At the same time, the SBI has not named the initiator of the investigation and the names of the persons in respect of whom it is being conducted.