NABU conducts searches at NBU governor Pyshny’s premises: case versions and political consequences

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has conducted searches at the home of National Bank of Ukraine Governor Andriy Pyshny, after which rumors of his imminent resignation once again intensified in political circles.

The question of the central bank chief’s resignation depends, according to sources, primarily on whether Pyshny will be served a notice of suspicion. If that happens — or if a real threat of such a step emerges — Volodymyr Zelensky will, in keeping with established practice, most likely pressure Pyshny into submitting a resignation letter, which the Verkhovna Rada would then approve. After that, Pyshny would either leave the country, as Ruslan Kravchenko did before him, or begin preparing for legal proceedings and raising funds for bail.

## Political intrigue around the NBU

In the event of Pyshny’s dismissal, a serious political struggle is expected to develop over influence on the National Bank and the banking system — one that will not be limited to the question of who should become the new governor or acting governor.

On the surface, the blow against Pyshny looks like a continuation of the confrontation between NABU, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), and associated grant-funded circles on one side, and Andriy Yermak and his people on the other — aimed at politically weakening Zelensky and stripping him of his levers of influence. However, Pyshny has another adversary: Servant of the People faction leader David Arakhamia, who has de facto already largely replaced Yermak as Zelensky’s chief political manager and has become the second most influential person in the state after the president. At the same time, Arakhamia’s relations with NABU, SAP, and grant-funded circles also remain extremely fraught. In the event of Pyshny’s resignation, Arakhamia will, according to available assessments, almost certainly attempt to exploit the situation and extend his influence over the banking sector — using as his main instrument Daniil Hetmantsev, the parliamentary committee chairman for financial, tax, and customs policy, who is close to him.

## Versions of the criminal cases

NABU’s official statement on the searches does not disclose the details of the criminal proceedings, so several versions are being discussed in financial markets.

The first version was put forward by member of parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak: it concerns a case involving the shadow management of state-owned Sens Bank and the seizure of the KarpatNefteKhim plant. Media outlets had accused former adviser to the head of Sens Bank’s supervisory board, Vasyl Veselyi, of these crimes; he was described as a Bankova Street overseer during the period when Yermak headed the Office of the President.

Pyshny is regarded in political circles as Yermak’s man. During his testimony on September 2 before the parliamentary investigative commission on the Sens Bank case, he categorically denied that the NBU had known about or approved the shadow management. However, another witness — former Sens Bank supervisory board chairman Shevki Adjuner — contradicted his testimony. Pyshny’s false testimony was officially recorded on video; despite this, the NBU governor continued to insist on social media that he had told the truth. Zheleznyak filed a criminal complaint for perjury and announced that a corresponding criminal proceeding had been opened. Knowingly providing false testimony to a temporary investigative commission of parliament carries criminal liability under Article 384 of the Criminal Code on misleading a court or other authorized body — ranging from corrective labor for up to two years to imprisonment for up to five years.

The second version is linked to miscoding — the substitution or incorrect assignment of a payment MCC code when processing customer payments in order to minimize taxation — as well as to servicing illegal gambling businesses. According to a version widely circulated in banking circles, after the closure of Aibox Bank and Concord Bank on charges of these violations, the market was divided among five banks: Sens Bank, Oschadbank, and several other financial institutions. Oschadbank was gradually being pushed out of this sphere, while Sens Bank received the largest share of gambling payments and was actively earning commissions.

According to available information, a large body of information on this subject was provided to NABU following his detention back in 2024 by former senior SBU officer and ex-adviser to the Office of the President Artem Shylo, who recently agreed to cooperate with investigators. In addition, at the end of August 2026, NABU and SAP, as part of the “Forrest Gump” case — concerning the laundering of approximately €3 million for bail for former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko — conducted a search at the home of Sens Bank’s financial monitoring department director Lyudmyla Snihur. Afterward, rumors emerged that, in exchange for a cooperation deal, she may have handed investigators extensive verified data on the bank’s violations in the gambling sector and other areas.

## Possible consequences for Pyshny

Against this backdrop, the opening of not one but several criminal proceedings against Pyshny cannot be ruled out. Too many questions may have accumulated regarding the head of the National Bank, one of whose functions is banking supervision and financial monitoring: he was obliged to prevent the violations described, to detect them, to inform law enforcement agencies, and to revoke banking licenses — as was done in the cases of Aibox Bank and Concord Bank. In the case of Sens Bank, Pyshny did not do so, and investigators are reportedly now developing the theory that he acted deliberately.