Expert: NBU's chief lawyer with a tarnished reputation casts a shadow over the work of the entire regulator

The criminal case against Oleksandr Zyma, the chief lawyer of the National Bank of Ukraine, casts a shadow over the work of the entire regulator. In Western countries, such an official would have already resigned. This opinion was expressed by political scientist Viktor Bobirenko in an exclusive commentary to UNN .

Context

The State Bureau of Investigation confirmedthat it is investigating criminal proceedings for alleged abuse of office by Oleksandr Zyma, director of the NBU's legal department. The case concerns a letter from the National Bank to the Deposit Guarantee Fund signed by Zyma, in which he recommended that the Fund withdraw the lawsuits filed by Concord Bank against the NBU. The document referred to four lawsuits filed by the bank against the NBU, in which Concorde demanded that fines totaling almost UAH 63.5 million be canceled. They were filed even before the National Bank decided to liquidate Concorde and put it into temporary administration.

Viktor Bobirenko notes that in countries where the institution of business reputation is developed, an official like Zyma would have already resigned from his post, because the case against him casts a shadow over the work of a state institution. However, according to him, in Ukraine, the institution of officials' reputation is not developed.

Zyma's reputation should have cast a shadow, of course, over the entire institution. In Western governments, politicians resign in order not to cast a shadow on the party, the government, etc. Even at the local or central level. But in Ukraine, since there is no institution of personal political reputation, there is no institution (of business reputation - ed.) at the institutional level. So what if a bad prosecutor, a bribe-taker, casts a shadow over the entire prosecutor's office, and the rest are the same. This does not work here, and this is the biggest problem, unfortunately,

The political scientist added that the lack of a working institute of business reputation hinders Ukraine's development. If it were at a sufficient level, there would be personnel rotations and dishonest politicians and officials would be weeded out. "Because reputation is a resource as important as, for example, strategic thinking and the ability to select personnel. Reputation is no less important," Bobirenko said.

Explaining the importance of reputation, the expert drew an analogy with how people choose a doctor or a hairdresser.

We would go to a doctor who has a good reputation to have our appendix removed, not the other way around. Or we go to the hairdresser - we go to a specialist whom we trust and who has a good reputation. But we have no institution of reputation in politics at all. That's why you can run from party to party, as it's fashionable to say now, to change your shoes, and there will be nothing for it, because the institution of reputation does not work. It is believed that all politicians are weak, but we vote for the same ones, based on the principle: he has already stolen, maybe he won't do it again, so let's vote for him,

Recall

In April of this year, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv recognized Yulia Sosedka, a co-founder of Concord Bank, as a victim in this criminal proceeding. According to the co-owner of Concorde, Olena Sosedka, Zyma deprived the bank's shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trialby his instructions. However, SBI investigators have not yet complied with the court ruling and have not handed Yulia Sosedka a memo on the rights and obligations of the victim.