The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) are conducting searches at the home of National Bank Governor Andriy Pyshnyy, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing its sources. The publication gave no further information on the reasons for the searches or on which actions are being investigated.
The searches and document seizures are taking place both at Pyshnyy's residence and at several related commercial structures. NABU and SAP have not yet disclosed the reasons for the investigation. Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, also reported the information.
REPORTS DIFFER ON THE LOCATIONS SEARCHED
Other reports place the searches at the central bank itself. According to those accounts, NABU officers and SAP prosecutors are conducting searches at the National Bank of Ukraine.
Suspilne relayed claims by Ukrainian lawmakers that the raids also targeted the office of the central bank's governor, Pyshnyy.
PYSHNYY'S NAME TIED TO SENSE BANK PROBES
Pyshnyy's name has been mentioned in connection with investigations surrounding Sense Bank in recent months. He has previously given explanations to a temporary investigative commission of the Verkhovna Rada on the activities of members of the bank's Supervisory Board.
On 10 September, former Sense Bank Supervisory Board Chairman Sevki Acuner told a meeting of a temporary investigative commission of the Ukrainian parliament that Pyshnyy had personally recommended Vasyl Veselyi for the position of supervisory board adviser on government relations. The Verkhovna Rada has also summoned Pyshnyy to report on the situation surrounding Sense Bank, which is implicated in a corruption investigation by NABU.
THE BAIL PAYMENT BEHIND THE CASE
The National Bank of Ukraine has faced criticism for failing to prevent a Hr 150 million ($3.4 million) payment through state-owned Sense Bank. The money was allegedly laundered and posted in June as bail for former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko.
In August, several suspects were charged with laundering money to post that bail, among them former Deputy Chief of Staff Iryna Mudra and Sense Bank CEO Oleksiy Stupak. Halushchenko himself was charged in February as part of the probe into state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom, the largest corruption investigation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's tenure.
PRESSURE ON THE GOVERNOR AHEAD OF THE SEARCHES
In August, Bloomberg reported that Zelenskyy was frustrated with the International Monetary Fund's demands and that his dissatisfaction extended to Pyshnyy's actions. Several senior officials close to the president expressed concern that the NBU under Pyshnyy had done too little to support the struggling economy by maintaining tight monetary policy. In September, The New York Times reported on widespread corruption within the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.