Dear Chairman of the parliament, members of the parliament, public and media representatives, I would like to thank you for your trust.
It is a great honor and responsibility to take charge of the National Bank of Ukraine.
I unequivocally confirm the NBU’s commitment to reforms.
Our goals remain unchanged.
First. To maintain price and financial stability.
Second. To promote economic growth.
Third. To integrate Ukraine’s financial system into the European one.
Over last three years, the NBU has managed to stabilize the macroeconomic situation, make the banking sector healthier, and introduce important innovations, such as inflation targeting and floating exchange rate.
The NBU team will continue to shape the modern and open central bank trusted by the society.
I would like to thank the President, the Government, the Parliament, the NBU Council, and the banking community for supporting our reforms.
It is also very important to maintain and develop cooperation with our international partners.
The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Union, governments and central banks from European as well as other countries of the world acknowledge the progress of reforms in the financial sector. We thank them for the support, without it this progress would not be possible.
Dear members of the parliament,
I am convinced that the NBU’s role in the uplift of our country and its economic growth is pivotal.
My absolute priority is to continue our work for a modern, transparent and sound banking system that is able to contribute to sustainable economic growth.
I have a clear vision and a plan for achieving this ambitious goal.
It comprises both strategic long-term projects and specific measures to be implemented in the nearest time.
First, we need to resume lending to the real sector as soon as possible.
By now, the banking system has already accumulated enough resources to launch full-scale lending.
Over UAH 80 billion can be channeled to revive the economy of Ukraine.
However, we face several challenges, in particular, critical volumes of non-performing loans in bank portfolios and weak creditor rights protection, which may be resolved only through amending the laws.
Dear members of the Parliament,
I encourage you to support the draft laws developed to pump credit funds into the economy.
These are draft laws which are aimed to revive lending and streamline asset resolution activity.
By adopting the above mentioned changes our economy will gain momentum which will help bring in lending to full stream as early as next year.
What is more. The time is ripe for a comprehensive foreign exchange liberalization.
Ukraine has seen a long period of an archaic and ineffective foreign exchange regulation.
The draft law On Foreign Currency presented by the NBU has been already approved by the National Council of Reforms.
I am confident that the new model of foreign exchange regulation will win the parliament’s backing as broad-based foreign exchange liberalization and free movement of capital will enable Ukraine to become a global economic player on a par with other countries.
What is most important, however, is that the NBU must remain independent from political processes in the country.
The central bank that enjoys political independence will be effective in carrying out its mandate which is to ensure price and financial stability.
This embraces the following strategic goals.
The first strategic goal implies that the NBU will continue focusing its efforts to reach and maintain low and stable inflation, ranging 5%±1% in a five-year prospect.
At the same time, we will be striving to further strengthen the financial system and make it more resilient to external shocks.
We will safeguard the system’s immunity to political influences and interests of the market.
Let me underscore that we will bar the fiscal dominance over monetary policy at the expense of the Ukrainians’ purchasing power.
The second strategic goal consists in ensuring that the rehabilitated, balanced and competitive banking system demonstrates higher profitability, growing share of long-term deposits, cashless transactions, and new technological standards.
I would also like to highlight that Ukraine’s integration into the European financial system should be achieved already over the medium term.
It will require us to implement European directives and regulations in a prompt and comprehensive manner as provided for by the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine.
The third goal, as I have mentioned earlier, is resumption of lending.
Our fourth goal is related to putting in place an effective model of the financial sector regulation.
The fifth goal is foreign exchange liberalization.
Finally, the sixth goal implies financial inclusion, i.e., easy and secure access to banking services.
So, let me assure you that our expertise and efforts will serve nothing else but interests of the people and the state.
Glory to Ukraine!