Supervisory board suspends Ukreximbank CEO

The supervisory board of state-owned Ukreximbank
(EXIMUK) temporarily dismissed Yevhen Metzger from the position of CEO, it
reported on Oct. 6. Metzger’s authority has been suspended for the period of
the investigation into an Oct. 4 incident with journalists.  The decision
was made at the board’s extraordinary meeting today.

 

Recall, on Oct. 4, investigative journalists from the
Ukrainian division of Radio Liberty accused the bank’s CEO
of attacking them during an interview in his office. The bank’s security men,
on the CEO’s order, used physical force against the journalists, took their cameras
and erased all the recordings made during the interview.

 

Reacting to the scandal, Finance Minister Serhiy
Marchenko said on Oct. 5 that the way out of the conflict should be found “with
full respect to freedom of speech” and called the conflict with journalists
“unacceptable.”

 

Later on Oct. 5, the supervisory board issued a vague
statement that it “is concerned about allegations against the Bank on the
obstruction of journalistic activity,” adding that the board started the
“verification of circumstances” and is taking measures to “objectively assess
the situation and the actions of the Bank.”

 

Soon after that, the journalists reported they were
able to restore the deleted recordings and shared video which confirmed their
version of the events: the attack on the cameraman, taking away cameras and
attempts to delete the recordings.

 

In the morning of Oct. 6, the official website of
president Zelensky called the behavior of the bank’s officials “unacceptable”
citing presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak. The statement calls it “logical”
to temporarily dismiss the CEO for the time of investigation of the incident,
also stating that “stricter personnel decisions” in the bank will be possibly
needed.

 

Alexander Paraschiy: The scandal
uncovers the poor governance and corporate culture in the state bank, as well
as the poor skills of the bank’s technical staff. It seems that only a strong
statement from the presidential office this morning made it possible for the
supervisory board to dismiss the inadequate CEO (yesterday’s toothless
statement from the board gave little chance for such development).

 

The suspension does not guarantee that Metzger will be
removed from the position. And his possible dismissal does not guarantee any
changes in the bank’s corporate culture or corporate governance, which seems to
remain the worst among Ukraine’s state-controlled banks. We again see no
implications of the scandal on EXIMUK bonds.

 

Ironically, the incident, with an attack on
journalists, dragged media attention from the discussion of Zelensky’s role in
the Pandora Papers investigation. And to coin a saying, if a scandal does not
appear purposely, one should initiate another one on purpose. Time will tell
which occurred in this case.