Journalists accuse Ukreximbank CEO of obstructing their activity

Investigative journalists from the Ukrainian division
of Radio Liberty were attacked in the office of Ukreximbank (EXIMUK) CEO Yehven
Metzger on Oct. 4, the media reported the same day. According to project
manager Natalie Sedletska, after hearing an inconvenient question from a
journalist, Metzger ordered bank security to take away cameras and delete all
the recordings. The security men reportedly used physical force against the
journalists and detained them for about an hour in the office of the bank’s CEO
while deleting all the records from cameras. Later on, the journalists called
the police and wrote a statement on the obstruction of their activity (which is
a criminal offence in Ukraine).

Early in the morning of Oct. 5, the National Police
reported that it had initiated a criminal investigation on the case.

Commenting on the incident, the bank’s press service claimed
that at the Oct. 4 interview, a journalist asked the CEO to disclose some
information about the bank’s clients that contain banking secrecy, which
“forced the press service to terminate the interview”. The bank claimed that
the journalists “left the bank’s premises without any obstruction.” The bank
also accused the journalists of an attempt to illegally collect secret
information.

Recall, Metzger was appointed as Ukreximbank CEO in March 2020. To make this appointment happen, the
government had to dismiss in questionable manner an American banker, Steven
Fisher, from the position of the bank’s supervisory board member. Metzger is
considered a friend of president Volodymyr Zelensky. His wife Yulia Metzger is
a member of the supervisory board of another state-controlled bank, Privatbank.

Alexander Paraschiy:
Investigative journalists rarely ask comfortable questions to state officials,
so Metzger should have been prepared for that when inviting them to his office.
His behavior, as described by Sedletska, does not look compatible with the
position of a top manager of one of the biggest state companies. However,
keeping in mind his scandalous appointment, which suggests he indeed has good
ties with Zelensky, we do not rule out that he will retain his position this
time, nor do we expect he will be charged with any offenses stemming from the
event. In any case, we continue to assess the bank’s corporate governance
practices as the weakest among the state-controlled banks. Ironically, this has
not affected the bank’s bonds, as Ukreximbank remains well-capitalized and has
bumper liquidity, as well as enjoys support on the highest government levels.