EBRD Denies Existence of Document That Media Reports Say Criticizes NBU
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is aware of the Ukrainian media outlet that has commented on an allegedly EBRD-issued document that the media outlet says criticizes the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The EBRD denies having ever authored such a document.
“The EBRD does not recognize any such document, and its contents as described by the media outlet do not reflect the Bank’s institutional view of the NBU,” the EBRD said in a statement on Thursday. “The EBRD has a long-standing and close relationship with the NBU, whose handling of the Ukrainian economy in wartime it has repeatedly commended. The EBRD looks forward to the continuation of this relationship,” the statement says.
The document was initially made public by journalist Yevhen Plinskyi. A copy of it was then distributed by a number of media outlets. The document criticizes the NBU’s work, alleging in particular that the central bank has attempted to meddle with the management of state-owned banks, used personal judgments when evaluating bank managers, made poor hiring decisions, and violated the principle of group decision-making. Plinskyi said this document was “an analysis by the EBRD.”