Kyrylo Shevchenko, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), has met with Kristina Kvien, U.S. Chargés d’Affaires ad interim to Ukraine. The parties discussed reforming corporate governance in state-owned banks, continuing cooperation with international partners, in particular the IMF, as well as strengthening cooperation between Ukraine and the U.S.
"A month ago, we had our first meeting with you in the format of G7 Ambassadors. We were very glad to hear that you plan to continue the NBU’s consistent policy. We are pleased that we are "on the same page" on the issue of corporate governance reform in state-owned banks, which the NBU is going to proceed with and strengthen. We also are glad that you are ready to address challenges such as the significant share of nonperforming loans in state-owned banks," said Kristina Kvien, U.S. Chargés d'Affaires ad interim to Ukraine.
Strengthening corporate governance and reducing the NPL ratio in state-owned banks is indeed a priority for the NBU, Kyrylo Shevchenko pointed out.
"Last week, we started the cycle of meetings with the supervisory boards of state-owned banks. I reiterated the NBU’s support of corporate governance. After all, a properly built corporate governance system improves a financial institution’s performance. We also need to address the issue of NPLs in state-owned banks, which is painful, but we will continue to work to resolve it," said NBU Governor.
Kyrylo Shevchenko and Kristina Kvien have discussed the strengthening of cooperation between Ukraine and the U.S., including in cybersecurity.
In addition, Kyrylo Shevchenko mentioned the NBU’s plans to promote sustainable development of the state, as well as "green" banking, in Ukraine. The NBU plans to join the Network for Greening the Financial System and Sustainable Banking Network.