NBU Board is certain that Oleksandr Dubinskyi, known in the media as the mouthpiece of oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi, is behind targeted media offensive on the NBU. This attack is most likely backed by the former owner of PrivatBank, who, since PrivatBank nationalization (three years ago), has been trying to avoid repayment of funds siphoned from the bank before the state participation in the bank’s capital. Negative statements and slander, demands and expectations of the protesting parties are regularly vocalized by the information sources owned or associated with Dybinskyi.
The NBU demands from Oleksandr Dubinskyi to refute the misinformation spread on the Internet on the account DubinskyPro on youtube.com and facebook.com. In particular, the MP informed that NBU top-management represented by Yakiv Smolii, NBU Governor, and Kateryna Rozhkova, First Deputy Governor, have allegedly organized an ‘illegal scheme’ for resolution of targeted banks for bribes paid by respective shareholders in order to receive subsequent compensation out of the state budget.
The MP used as an example the resolution of Radikal Bank in 2015 and alleged payment from the NBU to the fugitive businessman, Serhii Kurchenko, of damages of UAH 128 million.
The NBU calls for this information to be refuted, since:
First, allegations oforganizing an illegal scheme for resolving banks are groundless and absurd, and misinform the public. These allegations are intended to damage the reputation of NBU top management, discredit the banking sector reform, and undermine confidence to the NBU.
Cleaning-up of the banking sector in 2014–2016 was in line with Ukrainian law and concerned banks with inadequate capital and incapable to discharge their liabilities to depositors, banks involved in money laundering by scheme transactions, and banks that used deposits to fund business projects of the bank’s owner or his/her family members.
For that matter, Radikal Bank was resolved due to gross violation in cash circulation that threatened the safekeeping of funds entrusted by the bank’s depositors. (For information on bank resolution since 2014 see the NBU’s special project Reasons and Outcomes of the Big Banking Clean-up: https://badbanks.bank.gov.ua/).
Second, the information that the NBU "assists Serhii Kurchenko by paying him UAH 128 from the budget" is false. The NBU did not reimburse or provide assistance to Serhii Kurchenko and Radikal Bank shareholder, Promyslova Innovatsiina Kompaniia LLC. The NBU has already published the Refutation of this fact in September this year.
In order to withdraw groundless allegations slandering NBU top management and NBU decision-making, the NBU demands from Oleksandr Dubinskyi to release on the Internet media youtube.com and facebook.com the following refutation:
"Refutation. I, Oleksandr Dubinskyi, hereby refute misinformation spread on the account DubinskyPro on youtube.com and Dubinsky.pro on facebook.com in a release with the title Newly Elected Authorities Decided to Pay Kurchenko UAH 130 million regarding "the NBU continues to assist the fugitive Serhii Kurchenko, now they take out UAH 128 million and pay it to Kurchenko, this is an illegal scheme headed by Smolii, NBU Governor, and Kateryna Rozhkova, NBU First Deputy Governor, who in 2015 took part in this illegal scheme. NBU top managers intentionally resolved banks for bribes from shareholders, and on top of that they paid out compensation". This information is false."