The chairman appears in Mindich's recordings under the pseudonym "Speaker"—Borislav Bereza
Andriy Pyshnyy, the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, is directly implicated in the scandalous audio recordings known as the “Mindich tapes,” in which he is referred to by the code name “Speaker.”
This was stated by former MP and civic activist Boryslav Bereza, citing his own sources and a detailed analysis of the transcripts of the audio recordings previously published by the media outlet “Ukrainska Pravda.” The politician is presenting his article as an official open appeal to investigators at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
According to Bereza, the NBU head’s defense had previously been based on the claim that his last name is mentioned only once in the recordings, in the context of “Call Pyshny.” However, new evidence points to the existence of a clear system of aliases among the participants in the conversations, which may indicate their affiliation with a criminal group. In particular, the following figures appear in the conversations:
Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President—as “Surgeon” or “Ali Baba”;
businessman Timur Mindich—as “Carlson”;
financier Fursenko—as “Roshik”;
a person with the last name Zuckerman—as “Sugarman”;
Andriy Pyshnyy, head of the National Bank of Ukraine, referred to as “Speaker.”
The role of “Speaker” is revealed in a recorded conversation between individuals with the code names “Vasyl Veselyi” and “Zuckerman.” They discuss the Ministry of Defense’s delay in delivering a large shipment of 5,000 body armor vests due to the need for additional testing of the armor plates. Seeking to resolve this business issue through the Office of the President, “Vasya Veselyi” attempts to raise his standing in the eyes of “The Surgeon” (Yermak). He boasts that he uncovered the financial shenanigans of former NBU Governor Valeria Gontareva, which the current head of the National Bank concealed from the country’s top leadership: “I know this, but the Speaker didn’t mention it. I went to tell the Surgeon about it.”
According to Bereza, Andriy Pyshnyy remains in his position solely because of Bankova’s fear of his possible resignation. The politician predicts that if the NBU head loses his informal immunity and is summoned for questioning by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), he will fully live up to his nickname and begin actively turning in all participants in the scheme. At the end of the post, Boryslav Bereza called on investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach to devote his next article to a detailed examination of the “Speaker’s” role in this case.
Borislav Bereza made this statement on Facebook.
The conflict with Ukrposhta CEO Ihor Smiliansky is the second consecutive personal misstep by NBU Governor Pyshnyy, following the record fines imposed on City24 and EasyPay.
For more details on the history of the record fines imposed on EasyPay and City24 and the political context surrounding this decision, read a separate article on UA.News.
