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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Before the appointment of the head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in October 2022, Andrii Pyshnyi's biography included six high-profile episodes that still have not received public explanations. This was reported on your blog by former head of the NBU Council in the years 2016–2023 Bohdan Danylyshyn.
“All six episodes are united by one question: why did numerous scandals, questionable management decisions and the possibility of conflicts of interest not become an obstacle to Andrii Pyshnyi’s career?” writes Danylyshyn.
The first episode concerns paid education. In May 21 2026 the Unified State Register of Court Decisions contains two rulings of the Zarychny District Court of Sumy from 2007 about the preparation by employees of the Sumy branch of the University of Modern Knowledge of documents about the education of three persons. Economist Borys Kushniruk claims that one of them was Pyshnyi and that these documents allowed him to enter directly into the fourth year of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking. In the anonymized rulings Pyshnyi’s surname is not specified. Danylyshyn also refers to a ruling of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv, which obliged the State Bureau of Investigations to respond to a statement about the possible preparation of Pyshnyi’s educational documents.
The second episode concerns the agro-group “Kreatyv,” a major borrower of Oshchadbank. In 2016 the NABU opened proceedings regarding possible ownership of $20 million of the bank; in 2019 the founder of the group, former MP Stanislav Berezkin, lost control. Pyshnyi was not formally notified of suspicion. At its peak the Kreatyv’s annual revenue exceeded $1 billion, and the company employed 3200 people. In Danylyshyn’s words, Oshchadbank under Pyshnyi’s leadership refused to restructure Kreatyv’s debt and filed 23 lawsuits, after which part of the company’s assets passed to competitors. “All of this very much resembled a raider scheme,” he added.
The third episode is the lending to the Kyiv complex “Gulliver.” The initial loan from Oshchadbank and UkrEximBank in 2006 amounted to $61,6 million, and after a series of restructurings the debt of LLC Try O, whose last owner is believed to be businessman Viktor Polishchuk, by 2020 had increased to $675 million. The restructurings in 2019–2020 years occurred during Pyshnyi’s tenure, and repayment terms were extended to 2044. Only in July 2025 did the state banks register ownership rights to the complex.
The fourth episode is a house of 891,7 sq. m near Kyiv, registered to Pyshnyi’s daughter. In 2024 OBOZ.UA reported that it is located next to a plot owned by Serhii Sliusarenko, co-owner of the collection company Ukrborg, which is under NBU supervision. The regulator stated that it does not see a conflict of interest and recalled the fine imposed on Ukrborg. Danylyshyn also points to ties with the law firm Asters, which works with Oshchadbank. At the same time he acknowledges that the mere presence of expensive real estate by itself is not evidence of wrongdoing.
The fifth episode is the trip by Oshchadbank management to the Europa League final in Warsaw in 2015. Pyshnyi, with his wife, representatives and members of the supervisory board, flew by charter costing 459 thousand hryvnias. Media reported about the involvement of debt companies in paying. The Prosecutor General’s Office launched an investigation, and the bank said the flight was paid at cost.
The sixth episode is an attempt in 2019 to renew Pyshnyi’s term as Chairman of the Management Board of Oshchadbank for another five years without a competition. This was prevented by the NBU, which did not approve five of the nine new supervisory board members. Danylyshyn links this to the position of then-NBU Governor Yakiv Smolii. In 2020 Pyshnyi declined to participate in a repeat competition.
Danylyshyn also mentions media reports about close ties between Pyshnyi and the former Head of the President’s Office Andrii Yermak.
This year, in October 21 the NABU and SAP conducted searches at the NBU and at the residence of one of its employees. According to media, the investigative actions concerned Pyshnyi’s office and residence. No one was detained, and no suspicion was served. Pyshnyi said the searches “do not relate to the activities of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) or the official duties of the head of the NBU.” The National Bank denied reports about its head’s resignation.
People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak (Holos) said that the Verkhovna Rada may on 12 November adopt a resolution to dismiss Pyshnyi. As of 3 November, no draft has been posted on the parliament’s website. According to Zhelezniak, in a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyi Pyshnyi refused to resign. Under the Constitution, the head of the NBU is dismissed by the Rada upon the president’s submission.
In August the head of the Rada’s financial committee Danylo Hetmantsev (Servant of the People) demanded Pyshnyi’s resignation after NABU uncovered a money-laundering scheme through the state-owned Sense Bank. According to the investigation’s version, a payment of 150 million hryvnias passed through the bank, which was used as collateral for the former minister of energy and justice Herman Halushchenko.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Пишний очолив НБУ попри шість скандалів – Данилишин". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Bagnet.
