Since our launch in 2014 EU Today’s editorial line has been consistently supportive towards Ukraine – sometimes in the role of ‘friendly critic’ – and its brave people in their struggle against Russian aggression.
Likewise we are supportive of Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO, both of which cannot come to soon.
In Brussels, in the EU Institutions themselves, the levels of support are very high across the board- with the obvious exception of Putin’s Trojan Horses, of course.
However, having followed negotiations from the beginning it has become apparent that many in Ukraine have not fully accepted that addressing issues of corruption – real or perceived – is a pre-condition to EU accession. The suits in Brussels are actually quite serious about this.
Recently Ukraine’s Alliance Bank has come under significant scrutiny in Brussels, not least because of alleged connections between certain business transactions and the currently imprisoned oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.
EU Today has been following the issue closely, and has sought clarification on a number of issues from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
However neither the press office of the office of the Governor of the NBU, Andriy Pyshnyi, have replied to our approaches.
We are asking specifically about matters that are being monitored in Brussels:
1) What measures were taken by the NBU based on the results of the 2023 inspection of Alliance Bank?
2) What measures were taken by the NBU to verify the current condition and compliance of bank documentation with the real state of affairs at Alliance Bank in the period from January 2023 to May 2024?
3) How does the NBU assess the level of management and control of the bank’s activities by the management and Supervisory Board of Alliance Bank?
4) What measures does the NBU take to protect government agencies and enterprises from using banking products of Alliance Bank (which continues to issue bank guarantees) and to prevent losses from the bank’s failure to fulfil the terms of the issued bank guarantees in the future, given that the failure to fulfil bank guarantees previously occurred in relation to obligations provided by the Ministry of Defence, Naftogaz Trading, Ukrgazvydobuvannya, etc.
These are very serious institutional issues that must be addressed, not least in the light of the re-construction of Ukraine – the cost of which the World Bank has estimated at $486 billion – after the current conflict.
Read the full letter to the NBU here: PDF Letter to Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine
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