The EU Twinning Project

Strengthening the institutional and regulatory capacity of the National Bank of Ukraine to implement EU-Ukraine Association Agreement UA 19 ENI FI 01 19

Overall Objective of the Project

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the macroeconomic stability of Ukraine through institutional strengthening of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), and building a reliable banking and payments infrastructure for economic operators.

NBP Technical Cooperation

strengthen the NBU capacity as a bank supervisor in performing Supervisory Review Evaluation Process (SREP) assessments and improving the supervisor’s ability to evaluate characterizations for risks and the capitalization of the risks,
implementation of instant payments in line with the EU Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD 2),
institutional strengthening of the NBU by further developing its strategic planning and international cooperation functions.

Project Components and Aims of Project

Component 1: Further transposition of Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision

Mandatory result: Transposition of Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision and the EU capital requirements legislation in the area of internal capital adequacy assessment process (ICAAP), internal liquidity adequacy assessment process (ILAAP) and assessment of the banks’ risk profiles through the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP).
Component 2: Instant Payment Settlement System

Mandatory result: A model development for the instant payments architecture in Ukraine, and a road map to implement it.
Component 3: Institutional strengthening through the establishment of an integrated system of strategic planning, execution and monitoring, process-based model of planning and management.

Mandatory result: Process-based planning and management model, including a performance management system, is introduced in the NBU.
Component 4: Strengthening of the NBU international cooperation function and capacity in the area of European integration of Ukraine

Mandatory result: The NBU international cooperation function is strengthened, in particular with regard to the implementation of the Association Agreement.
Component 5:Approaching Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

Mandatory result: Review of requirements and adjustments necessary for joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

General Information about EU Twinning

Twinning is a European Union instrument for institutional cooperation between public administrations of EU Member States and of beneficiary or partner countries.

Twinning projects bring together public sector expertise from EU Member States and beneficiary countries with the aim of achieving concrete mandatory operational results through peer to peer activities.

Since 2004 the Twinning instrument is available to some of the EU Eastern and Southern Neighborhood partner countries. In this framework it aims at upgrading the administrative capacities of the public administration of a partner country through the training of its staff and support to the reorganization of its structure. It also supports the approximation of national laws, regulations and quality standards to those of EU Member States in the framework of Cooperation or Association agreements signed with the EU.

Within European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) current beneficiaries are:

ENI South: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
ENI East: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

To see more: https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/tenders/twinning_en

EU-Twinning Partners (EU Member States Consortium)

Project Leader

Beneficiary Institution

Junior Project Leader

Project Funder

Information on completion of the EU Twinning Project for NBU

Narodowy Bank Polski completed the EU Twinning Project for the National Bank of Ukraine

On March 21, 2023, the official completion of the Twinning Project took place in Kraków, attended by, among others: Ms. Marta Kightley – NBP Vice-Governor, First Deputy Governor of NBP, Ms. Kateryna Rozhkova – NBU Vice-Governor and Mr. Simonas Krėpšta – Member of the Management Board of Lietuvos bankas.

“Let me express my deep conviction that the results of this Twinning Project will make the National Bank of Ukraine an even stronger and more solid institution that will find before long its well-deserved place in the European System of Central Banks,” said Marta Kightley, First Deputy Governor of Narodowy Bank Polski, at the conference concluding the implementation of the Project

Narodowy Bank Polski (senior partner) and Lietuvos bankas (junior partner) have successfully completed the realization of the Twinning Project for the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Apart from Polish and Lithuanian experts, there were tens of specialists involved in the Project from the central banks of Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.

The overall aim of the EUR 1 million Project was to strengthen the capacity of the NBU so that it is better prepared to fulfil its tasks stemming from the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The decision taken by the EU in June 2022 to grant the status of Candidate Country to Ukraine exposed the need to further strengthen the NBU’s capacity to meet new challenges.

The Twinning Project commenced in October 2020. Despite the pandemic, which enforced exclusively online communication, and then the Russian invasion of Ukraine, resulting in extreme uncertainty, after a 3-month suspension in the 2nd quarter of 2022 the Project was restarted and successfully finalized. Encouraged by the determination of the NBU and its personnel, experts from various EU Member States were resolute to withstand the challenges stemming from the pandemic and the war. Thanks to the commitment of all the parties involved, the objectives of the Project were met.

The major effects of the Project are the following:

Improved selected methods and techniques of supervision of commercial banks;
A model of instant payments system prepared by the NBU;
Selected new methods of strategic planning and monitoring developed;
Improvements in the NBU’s capacity to handle its relations with international financial institutions and prepare for meeting the requirements of EU Membership;
Identification of requirements to be met in order to join the Single Euro Payments Area.

Narodowy Bank Polski and Lietuvos bankas stand ready to provide further support to the National Bank of Ukraine.