The National Bank recognized Poroshenko’s reputation as imperfect due to NSDC sanctions

The National Bank recognized Poroshenko’s reputation as imperfect due to NSDC sanctions

At the meeting on Monday, the National Bank of Ukraine’s Committee on Banking Supervision and Regulation acknowledged the reputation of the fifth President of Ukraine, leader of the opposition party "European Solidarity," and majority shareholder of the International Investment Bank (IIB), Petro Poroshenko, as not impeccable due to the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), introduced by the decree of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claims Poroshenko’s lawyer Illia Novikov.

"On its own initiative, the NBU decided to consider whether Poroshenko is a ’person with an impeccable reputation,’ which is a technical term that allows the NBU to take specific measures to control banking institutions in which he is a shareholder," Novikov stated at a briefing.

According to him, neither Poroshenko’s lawyers nor members of parliament were allowed to attend this meeting, which is a violation of the law, while Poroshenko himself is participating in the Congress of the European People’s Party in Spain.

"Without Poroshenko’s representatives, in violation of all possible norms, this decision was made. As soon as we receive it in written form, we will contest it," Novikov said.

Poroshenko’s lawyer, Ihor Holovan, claims that such actions by the NBU are aimed at destructive activities concerning the IIB - "an effective profitable bank" - and violate the interests not only of its majority shareholder but also of tens of thousands of the bank’s clients.

The media has not yet managed to obtain a comment from the National Bank or confirmation or denial of the information about the committee’s decision on banking regulation.

On April 11, Poroshenko stated that the NBU plans to acknowledge him as "a person with an impeccable business reputation," using the president’s decree on sanctions against him from February 12, 2025. "The law does not provide for such a mechanism. This is an internal interpretation by the National Bank. However, it is exactly this that will make it possible to achieve the goal: to block and attempt to seize my shares of the bank (IIB)," claims the leader of "European Solidarity".

Prior to this, the head of the National Bank, Andriy Pyshnyi, refuted the accusations from Poroshenko and his political force that the inspection of the IIB and the operations of Poroshenko’s Charitable Foundation (CF) and the public organization "Sprava Gromad," whose accounts are placed in this bank, are political persecution of the opposition and execution of the government’s instructions.

"We deny any political connotation in the actions of the National Bank," stated the NBU on its website on the same day.
According to the data of the National Bank of Ukraine, as of February 1 this year, the IIB ranked 26th in terms of total assets (14.37 billion UAH) among 61 banks in the country. In the structure of the banking system’s assets, it accounts for 0.19%.