Government Updates Supervisory Board of Sense Bank

The Cabinet of Ministers changed the composition of the supervisory board of the state-owned Sense Bank and appointed a new state representative. The personnel decisions followed the National Bank's demand to restore the functionality of the supervisory board and came amid an investigation by NABU and SAP into the bank's executives.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Sergey Koretsky announced this on August 21 in Telegram.

The government's decision continues the personnel changes that began after the publication of investigative reports. Earlier, the Cabinet suspended the authority of Mykola Hladyshenko as chairman of the supervisory board of Sense Bank and initiated the suspension of the bank's CEO Oleksiy Stupak.

Meanwhile, the National Bank took a tougher stance regarding Hladyshenko. The regulator found him to be non-compliant with the requirements for an independent supervisory board member and demanded that the government as the owner's representative precisely terminate his mandates rather than merely temporarily suspend him.

The NBU also stated that the supervisory board of Sense Bank lacked the required quorum and was effectively lacking legitimacy. The regulator urged the state to promptly fill its composition.

According to Sense Bank's charter, the supervisory board should consist of nine people: six independent members and three state representatives. A full board is necessary, in particular, for making key personnel and strategic decisions.

The problem with state representatives on the board emerged back in the summer. On July 23, the three-year terms of deputy supervisory board chairman Andriy Svystun and board member Vladyslav Vlasyuk ended. Since then, Vitaliy Zinnykov remained the only state representative on the board. The new government appointment partially fills the vacancies.

The personnel decisions are taking place against the backdrop of the NABU and SAP operation "Forest Gump". According to the investigation, a group of individuals organized the legalization of UAH 150 million used to post bail for one of the defendants in the "Midas" case. The bank's CEO and supervisory board chairman are mentioned in the investigation materials.

The National Bank is also carrying out unplanned inspections of Sense Bank. The regulator intends to establish whether there was interference by officials in the bank's automated systems during operations related to the posting of the UAH 150 million bail, and whether financial monitoring requirements were met.

In addition, the government decided to speed up the preparation of Sense Bank for sale. The Ministry of Finance was tasked to intensify this process, engaging an international investment advisor and ensuring a transparent and competitive tender.

Koretsky previously stated that the proceeds from the sale of the state-owned bank are planned to be used to finance the needs of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance and the NBU need to resolve the accumulated problems in the bank and ensure proper corporate governance before the change of ownership.