Poroshenko calls NBU's decision on his faulty business reputation illegal
The decision of the Committee on Supervision and Regulation of Banking Activities of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), which at a meeting on Monday recognized the reputation of the leader of the European Solidarity party and majority shareholder of the International Investment Bank (IIB) Petro Poroshenko as not perfect in connection with the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) imposed against him by the decree of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is illegal and makes the reputation of the National Bank itself imperfect, according to a statement published on the website of the political force on Tuesday.
"In fact, the consideration of the issue of ‘faulty reputation’ speaks of serious problems with the reputation of the National Bank itself, which, according to the Constitution, should be a purely independent regulator, but in fact has become an executor of a political order ... The consideration took place because of the preventive sanctions imposed by Zelenskyy, which the whole world is already laughing at. This means that there were no violations, but there are sanctions, which means there is no need to stand on ceremony with the reputation. All this is a blatant, shameful abuse of power and a violation of the law," Poroshenko is convinced.
He also assessed this as a stage of "cleansing the political field of creating problems for the opposition." "All this testifies to the active preparation for the elections that the authorities are conducting. Although I warn you once again: in the conditions of Russia's external aggression, this objectively only weakens the country," the politician believes.
Poroshenko stated that he would "record all violations of laws in favor of politically motivated persecution."
As reported, at a meeting on Monday, the NBU Committee on Supervision and Regulation of Bank Activities recognized Poroshenko's reputation as not impeccable in connection with the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council imposed against him by the decree of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "The NBU, on its own initiative, decided to consider the issue of whether Poroshenko is a "person with imperfect reputation," which is a technical term and means the possibility for the NBU to take certain measures to establish control over banking institutions in which he is a shareholder," Poroshenko's lawyer Ilia Novikov said on Monday.
According to him, neither Poroshenko’s lawyers nor deputies were allowed to attend this meeting, which is a violation of the law, while Poroshenko himself is participating in the Congress of the European People’s Party in Spain. "Without Poroshenko's representatives, violating everything possible, they made this decision. It is obvious that as soon as we receive it in printed form, we will appeal it," Novikov said.
Poroshenko's lawyer Ihor Golovan claims that such actions by the NBU are aimed at destroying IIB - "an effective, profitable bank" and violate the interests of not only its majority shareholder, but also tens of thousands of the bank's clients.
The Interfax-Ukraine agency has not yet been able to obtain a comment from the National Bank or a confirmation or denial of the information about the decision of the Committee on Supervision and Regulation of Banking Activities.
On April 11, Poroshenko said that the NBU plans to recognize him as "a person with faulty business reputation" by using the presidential decree on sanctions against him from February 12, 2025. "The law does not provide for such a mechanism. This is an internal national bank interpretation. But it is precisely this that will allow you to achieve your goal: to block and try to seize the shares of the bank (IIB) that belong to me," the leader of the European Solidarity claims.
Before this, head of the National Bank, Andriy Pyshny, denied the accusations from Poroshenko and the political force he leads that the inspection of the IIB and the operations of the Poroshenko Charitable Foundation and the public organization Sprava Hromad, whose accounts are located in this bank, is political persecution of the opposition and the fulfillment of government orders.
"We deny any political subtext in the actions of the National Bank," the NBU said on its website on the same day.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of February 1 of this year, IIB ranked 26th in terms of total assets (UAH 14.37 billion) among 61 banks in the country. It accounts for 0.19% of the assets in the banking system.