It has come to the NBU’s attention today that lawmaker Yurii Savchuk filed a lawsuit with the District Administrative Court of Kyiv, seeking to ban Kateryna Rozhkova from discharging her duties as NBU First Deputy Governor. This is according to the court’s website. The plaintiff expects the court to declare that Ms Rozhkova broke the law when she engaged in what the plaintiff said were unlawful activities to aid third parties in the area of currency regulation and supervision, the court’s media office said in a statement. What is more, the plaintiff wants the court to forbid Ms Rozhkova to conduct said activities. Along with the lawsuit, Mr Savchuk filed an injunction that seeks to block Ms Rozhkova from participating in the NBU Board’s work and meetings until the court makes its ruling.
Up until now, the NBU has not been served an official notice of claim. The NBU deems it necessary to emphasize that grounds to prevent Kateryna Rozhkova from fulfilling her duties as NBU First Deputy Governor do not exist.
Should the District Administrative Court of Kyiv grant the injunction, the NBU will regard it as a blunt effort to disrupt its operation, an assault on its institutional independence, and a threat to the stability of the domestic currency.
Please be reminded that Article 20 of the Law of Ukraine On the National Bank of Ukraine stipulates the conditions under which a person can step down as NBU First Deputy Governor. Applicable laws do not stipulate any grounds on which a court could force an NBU First Deputy Governor to resign.
The NBU further reminds that in a similar action last year, Verkhovna Rada lawmakers Ihor Lutsenko and Oleksandr Dubinin attempted obtaining a court ruling that would restrict Ms Rozhkova’s capacity to discharge her official duties. On 15 May 2018, the Kyiv Court of Appeal allowed the NBU’s appeal and confirmed the legitimacy of Ms Rozhkova’s actions as NBU First Deputy Governor. As regards the lawsuit by Oleksandr Dubinin, the Ternopil City District Court of Ternopil Oblast dismissed it immediately.
In a similar lawsuit, the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv has already attempted to ban the NBU and its consultants from taking certain actions. As a result, the High Council of Justice ruled on 2 April 2019 to dismiss judge Liudmyla Kiziun of the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv under Article 126 section 6 paragraph 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine after the NBU filed an appeal (http://www.vru.gov.ua/news/4835).
“The NBU is concerned that courts are becoming an instrument of coercion and pressure in the hands of rogue politicians who seek to thwart the NBU’s operation. These circumstances have once again highlighted the need to complete the reform of the judiciary in order to rule out situations in which corrupt individuals can use courts to exert political pressure on government authorities,” says Viktor Hryhorchuk, Head of Litigation at the NBU Legal Department.
For reference
Under Article 641 of the Law of Ukraine On the National Bank of Ukraine, lawsuits against members of the NBU Board, other NBU executives, and members of the NBU Council are deemed as lawsuits against the NBU itself.
Article 151 section 3 paragraph 4 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure forbids courts to grant injunctions that suspend the NBU’s decisions or regulations, and also forbids courts to ban the NBU from taking certain actions or to force it to take said actions.