"Kristalbank" earns on payments in SC MIA: citizens overpay 10-15% for services

"Kristalbank" earns on payments in SC MIA: citizens overpay 10-15% for services

«Kristalbank» has settled in the Service Centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Citizens are dissatisfied with the fact that they have to overpay private banks by 10-15% for state services due to artificially created conditions. Administrators of the MIA Service Centers do not inform about cheaper alternatives but direct them to bank cashiers — and the amount on the receipt increases.

Private bankers confirm this in unofficial conversations, but representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine avoid direct answers, hiding behind vague justifications.

«Kristalbank» is not the only player that has «latched onto» payments in the MIA Service Centers. There are others, such as «Asvio Bank». However, «Kristalbank» is the most well-known due to its wide coverage. The head of the Service Center at 8 P. Usenko Street in Kyiv, Valeriy Delikatny, assures that they are officially not affiliated with the bank, as they only rent the premises. Logical? Not quite. In Ukraine, renting with the prospect of additional earnings does not simply appear.

The presence of «Kristalbank» in the Service Centers began with the reform of the MREO in 2016.
The bank’s news proudly announced:
«The first new model Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is serviced by PJSC «KRISTALBANK».

With the expansion of the Service Center network, the number of its branches in them also increased. Out of the 25 branches listed on the bank’s website, 17 are located in the MIA Service Centers: Kyiv, Odesa, Chernivtsi, Lviv, Dnipro, Bila Tserkva, and others. In 2023, the bank reported the opening of eight more points in the Service Centers. Coincidence? Unlikely.

Why do the MIA Service Centers not implement direct payments, like the SE «Document», and instead leave the scheme with cash and high commissions? The answer is obvious: 10-15% on top is an attractive profit for the chosen ones.

Where does «Kristalbank» come from?
Prior to 2014, it was «Terra Bank», owned by former NBU head Kyrylo Shevchenko and Vadym Kopylov — an official from the Yanukovych era who held high positions in the Azarov government. The bank was considered a «laundromat» for Yanukovych’s «family», but after its collapse in 2014, it was liquidated. In 2015, the Deposit Guarantee Fund created «Kristalbank» on its basis. The owner became Marina Lening, Kopylov’s wife, and he himself headed the Supervisory Board. Already in 2016, the bank began servicing the MIA reform. Coincidence? You decide.