Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kyrylo Shevchenko held his first meeting with ambassadors from the G7 countries. Participants of the meeting included Kristina Kvien, United States Chargés d'affaires ad interim to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Larisa Galadza, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine, Takashi Kurai, Ambassador of Japan to Ukraine, Davide La Cecilia, Ambassador of Italy to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, Ambassador of France to Ukraine, Nicolas Harrocks, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy, Bertram von Moltke, Deputy Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine, as well as members of the NBU Board: Kateryna Rozhkova, First Deputy Governor, and Deputy Governors Roman Borysenko, Dmytro Sologub, Sergii Kholod and Oleg Churiy.
"Close partnership with our international partners is a significant achievement of the recent reform in the financial sector. I take it as a personal duty to support and develop it further. We at the NBU put a great value on relations with the G7 countries, the European Union, and the international financial institutions. We aim for remaining a predictable and coherent partner for you in the future. We strongly believe that cooperation with the international partners is mandatory for sustaining the macrofinancial stability in Ukraine. For our part, you will see our serious attitude to all our obligations – we are committed to fulfil them based on the principles of transparency and partnership," said Kyrylo Shevchenko, NBU Governor, in his opening speech.
According to him, the NBU will remain an independent institution that will continue taking apolitical and economically grounded decisions. The current monetary policy, the inflation targeting regime, and the flexible exchange rate will be preserved.
"The National Bank of Ukraine is the fundamental pillar of reforms that have been implemented in Ukraine in recent years and that we see carried on today. The central bank has played the key role in overcoming the problems in the banking sector and combatting the crisis developments in the country. We hope that the NBU will continue the prudential policy aimed at sustaining the macrofinancial and economic stability in Ukraine," said Kristina Kvien, United States Chargés d'affaires ad interim to Ukraine.
"The NBU is an institution seen as a role model in Ukraine by its international partners. You and your team must be proud of it. As one of the biggest donors to Ukraine, the EU will gladly continue its cooperation with the National Bank of Ukraine. The NBU’s independence has been the foundation of our trust and cooperation," said Matti Maasikas, EU Ambassador to Ukraine.
During the meeting, Kyrylo Shevchenko outlined his main priorities as the NBU Governor: resumption of lending, reducing the NPL portfolio, preserving the macrofinancial stability, maintaining and deepening the cooperation with Ukraine’s international partners.
Also, answering the questions from the G7 ambassadors, Governor Shevchenko noted that he is an advocate of the corporate governance reform at state-owned banks. The reform’s results can be seen today in the successful operation of the financial institutions and their opportunities to attract investors.