Smilyanskyi stated his readiness to resign in exchange for a banking license for "Ukrposhta"

Smilyanskyi stated his readiness to resign in exchange for a banking license for "Ukrposhta"

CEO of «Ukrposhta» Ihor Smilyanskyi noted that the National Bank views his proposal to grant the company a banking license as his personal whim — however, this does not correspond to reality.

In the podcast «What’s the Challenge?» he confirmed his readiness to submit a resignation statement as soon as it happens, clarifying that he has already informed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about this.

«NBU issues a bank to «Ukrposhta», and I submit the statement. If the problem is with Smilyanskyi — we remove Smilyanskyi. Let them issue it, and I’ll go, — emphasized the CEO. — In any case, this is the final project that I wanted to implement at «Ukrposhta»».

Smilyanskyi has been managing «Ukrposhta» for 10 years. For the first time, he voiced the idea of launching «Ukrposhta Bank» on April 20, 2016 — on the first day of his work in the position. From his point of view, the state needs this because such a bank will provide access to financial services in regions with low population density where there are no private banks. This primarily concerns rural areas and remote settlements.

«Now a grandmother who buys validol can pay in cash, but they charge a commission of 15-20 hryvnias plus 1-2%. Validol costs 45 hryvnias, and with additional 15 hryvnias [commission] its price increases by 30%, — explains Smilyanskyi the idea. — With a bank card, funds would be debited automatically, and the medicine would cost less. This is beneficial for the grandmother, beneficial for us because we don’t need to transport cash. Everyone will win».