Ukraine's president nominates new central bank chief

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked parliament to approve banker Andriy Pyshnyi, who has helped advise the government on implementing sanctions against Russia, as new central bank chief. Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the first deputy of parliament's finance, tax and customs policy committee, said on the Telegram messaging app that the committee would examine Pyshnyi's nomination later in the day.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked parliament to approve banker Andriy Pyshnyi, who has helped advise the government on implementing sanctions against Russia, as new central bank chief.

Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the first deputy of parliament's finance, tax and customs policy committee, said on the Telegram messaging app that the committee would examine Pyshnyi's nomination later in the day. Pyshnyi, 48, is the former head of Ukraine's state-run Oschadbank and has helped advise the government on sanctions against Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February, and against Moscow's ally Belarus.

Zheleznyak has said Pyshnyi could be appointed this week. Parliament earlier formally accepted the resignation of Kyrylo Shevchenko. He abruptly submitted his resignation on Tuesday, citing health reasons.

Ukraine's National Anti-corruption Bureau said separately on Thursday it had notified five officials that they were suspected of "illegal activities" that led to the loss of more than 206 million hryvnias ($5.58 million) from 2014 until 2019. The bureau did not name Shevchenko but said those notified included the chairman of Ukrainian bank Ukrgasbank until 2019 - a role Shevchenko had at the time.

Ukrgasbank said in a statement that the bank had carried out "the necessary internal checks", the results of which "did not reveal any violations". The central bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shevchenko could not immediately be reached for comment.

Shevchenko assumed the central bank post in July 2020, almost two years before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, promising to maintain the bank's independence and cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.

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