Ukreximbank dismisses CEO
12 October 2021
The supervisory board of Ukreximbank (EXIMUK)
satisfied the request of Yevhen Metzger to terminate his employment contract as
CEO on Oct. 11, the bank’s press service reported the same day. A new CEO
should be elected no later than on April 12, the release stated.
Metzger called his request the only possible step in
order to avert negative consequences for the bank. Recall, last week,
journalists from Radio Liberty accused Metzger of attacking them
in his office, and later provided recordings of the attack.
Following the incident, the bank’s supervisory board temporarily suspended
Metzger’s power as CEO. He was appointed to the position in March 2020 on the
personal recommendation of president Zelensky.
Alexander Paraschiy: The dismissal is indeed the only way out of the scandal, though it
took almost a week for the CEO to learn it. Time will tell whether the bank’s
supervisory board has also learned the lesson and is now ready to use other
criteria for selecting the CEO than pressure from the presidential office.
Meanwhile, we do not expect the bank’s policy to change much with Metzger’s exit.
The bank is most likely to remain the key provider of financing for the
president’s infrastructure projects and will continue to enjoy financial
support from the government if need be. All in all, the recent events are
unlikely to affect the bank’s fundamentals and risks of EXIMUK bonds.
