NBP supports NBU in implementing EU-Ukraine Association Agreement

On 9 March 2021, Dmytro Sologub, Deputy Governor of the NBU, Chloe Allio, Head of Section of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Marta Gajęcka, Board Member of Narodowy Bank Polski, and Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, met online to officially kick-start the twinning project. The meeting was attended by NBU staff, officials from relevant sectoral ministries and agencies, representatives of business associations, diplomats, academics, and journalists. The project is funded by the EU. The project’s budget amounts to EUR 1 million.

The project will run until June 2022 and will be attended by dozens of experts from Narodowy Bank Polski and the Bank of Lithuania in cooperation with specialists from five other European national central banks.

The project will cover four areas (components). The first one is developing approaches to banking supervision. The NBU as a regulator will be able to better assess the condition of the banking sector; while banks – by meeting the new requirements – should be a safer place from the customer’s perspective. The second area is implementing an instant payments system. The project aims to help develop payment systems in Ukraine and define for Ukraine the most suitable model of instant payments, its architecture, and the road map for its implementation.

Thirdly, for the modernization of the NBU, the twinning project will provide inspiration on how to improve strategic planning at different levels. Fourthly, the NBU will receive know-how and support for the development of its international activities.

Currently, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all project activities are carried out remotely.

In his speech Dmytro Sologub stressed that integration with the EU is a long-term and extremely ambitious project for Ukraine and that the NBU would make every effort to effectively implement the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

Marta Gajęcka, NBP Board Member, underlined that Poland had always supported Ukraine’s close cooperation with the institutions of the European Union. Ms Gajęcka also highlighted that for many years Narodowy Bank Polski had been supporting the Ukrainian central bank in becoming a modern and well-managed institution, appreciated in many areas and rewarded for its significant achievements.

The Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania V. Vasiliauskas, referred to the concrete steps taken under the guidance of the EU-funded twinning project to share the best central banking practices and help all the central banks involved become more efficient and internationally active institutions creating value added for the societies of their countries.

Chloé Allio, Head of Section of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, stressed that the National Bank of Ukraine is already a strong, independent and technically competent institution and that she was certain this twinning project would help to step up the alignment with EU practices in banking and payments and would further advance the international standing of the NBU.