NBU Council dismisses NBU board member

The Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU)
satisfied on July 31 a request of Serhiy Kholod to dismiss him from the
position of NBU deputy governor, the Council’s head Bohdan Danylyshyn announced
on his blog the same day. The council did not appoint
Kholod’s replacement, member Vitaliy Shapran clarified in his own remarks.
Recall, earlier this week, Shapran announced a possible NBU Council meeting on July 29
to consider personnel changes. Earlier, the Ukrainian News agency reported that
the newly appointed NBU Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko is going to dismiss one of
the NBU’s deputy heads this week, stating it will mostly likely be Roman
Borysenko.

Kholod was appointed to his seven-year term as NBU
deputy head in July 2018, being responsible for payment systems and money
circulation.

Alexander Paraschiy: With the
dismissal of Kholod, we expect Shevchenko will replace him with a loyal person,
thereby securing a majority (three of six members and the tie-breaking vote) on
the NBU’s executive board, which determines the central bank’s regulations.
Recall, Shevchenko already secured the appointment of Yuriy Geletiy as NBU
deputy head last week.

Most likely, Kholod’s dismissal won’t have a
negative reaction from IFIs, but they are likely to be concerned with the mere
fact that the new NBU head has so quickly gained control over the
decision-making process in the central bank. At minimum, this increases the
risk of the NBU’s eventual dependence on the current elites.