Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said on Wednesday that its detectives were conducting searches at the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and at the home of one of the central bank's employees. "No one has been detained or charged," the bureau said in a statement quoted by the Kyiv Independent, adding that no further details were being disclosed to protect the confidentiality of the pretrial investigation.
Source: The Kyiv Independent
A law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent that the premises of NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi were among those searched. It is not clear in what case Pyshnyi is being investigated, the outlet reported. The central bank confirmed the searches, said further explanations would be provided once the procedural actions are complete, and said it "continues to operate as usual." Reuters, in a syndicated report, likewise reported NABU's statement that detectives were searching the central bank's premises and an employee's home, and that no one had been detained or issued a suspicion notice.
Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse
Resignation reported the same day
Later on Wednesday, Ukrainian media reported that Pyshnyi had resigned. SFG Media, which first reported the investigative actions citing lawmakers Oleksii Honcharenko and Yaroslav Zhelezniak, updated its report to state that Pyshnyi resigned "for health reasons." TodayPress, citing a banking-sector source and a report by Delo.ua, said Pyshnyi submitted his resignation voluntarily for health reasons, with his departure reportedly planned for after he returns from the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Bangkok. The resignation has not been announced in an official NBU statement in the reports cited here, and Awaaz Punjab is reporting it as a media report, not a confirmed official announcement.
Source: SFG Media
According to lawmaker Zhelezniak, as reported by SFG Media, the searches are allegedly connected to the Karpatnaftokhim plant and the nationalised Sense Bank. These are claims by the lawmaker, not findings by NABU, which has not publicly linked the searches to any specific case. Pyshnyi has previously denied an allegation that he recommended Vasyl Veselyi, a former aide to Sense Bank's supervisory board, for a position at the bank.
Source: TodayPress
The Sense Bank background
The National Bank has faced criticism for failing to prevent a Hr 150 million (about $3.4 million, yaani roughly Rs 30 crore) payment through state-owned Sense Bank that was allegedly funded with laundered money and posted as bail for former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko in June, the Kyiv Independent reported. Several suspects, including Sense Bank's chief executive and its former supervisory board head, were charged in August in that alleged laundering case; those charges are allegations that remain before the courts.
TodayPress reported that potential successors mentioned in Ukrainian media include NBU First Deputy Governor Serhiy Nikolaychuk, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and NBU Council member Vasyl Horbal. No successor has been officially announced. The development comes while Ukraine's economy and currency are being managed under wartime conditions and while Kyiv remains in close contact with the IMF over its financing programme.