President Volodymyr Zelensky has presented Kyrylo Shevchenko as the new governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
The Ukrainian leader named “professionalism, courage and responsibility” as the qualities required of the new governor.
“I am sure that Shevchenko is such a person,” he said on July 20. “He has over 20 years of experience and has gone through all the ranks in banking.”
Shevchenko replaces Yakiv Smolii, the former NBU governor, who resigned at the beginning of July, saying he was pressured to leave. NBU governors typically serve seven-year terms, but Smolii exited after just over two years in office.
That sparked fears in the business community and among Ukraine’s international partners that Zelensky’s administration was trying to influence the policy of the central bank, which is supposed to be independent of the government. In recent years, the NBU has been hailed as a bastion of stability in Ukraine’s otherwise tumultuous politics and economy.
But on July 20, Zelensky said that he “fully supports the independence” of the NBU and its policies. Nonetheless, he set several crucial tasks for Shevchenko, such as maintaining the exchange rate and minimizing the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s economy.
In addition, Zelensky said he expects that Shevchenko will maintain effective cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and organize affordable loans for businesses and mortgage credit lending for the public.
Then, Zelensky started using metaphors. He said that Shevchenko’s appointment is a “loan of trust from the professional community, the president, the government, the parliament, from all Ukrainian citizens.”
“I believe that this credit of trust will be paid with very good interest rates in the form of macrofinancial stability, economic growth and a stable national currency,” Zelensky said.
Shevchenko, who previously headed state bank Ukrgasbank, said that the NBU would stay independent and would be run in a professional way.
“We will remain technocrats and will preserve the achievements of the previous reforms,” Shevchenko said. He said that, in the next five years, the country can become a regional financial hub where “investors from all over the world will strive for long-term investment.”
Shevchenko wants the NBU to reduce the share of problematic loans in Ukrainian banks and generally improve the quality of loan portfolios across the banking sector.
He also plans to limit the use of long-term securities by banks instead of corporate lending. He said he will continue the policy of reducing the prime interest rate.
Shevchenko added that he plans to protect his reputation no matter what. “In the world of finance, there is nothing more important and more valuable than your reputation,” he said. “This is my compass for the next seven years.”
