The Supervisory Board of Sens Bank is now fully staffed and has a quorum
The Supervisory Board of the state-owned Sens Bank became fully constituted after Gerhard Bösch, the former chairman of the board of Raiffeisen Bank, officially joined the board on November 10. His appointment was approved by the National Bank of Ukraine. The board now has enough members to hold meetings and can consider the termination of Management Board Chairman Oleksiy Stupak’s powers.
According to published data, the National Bank’s relevant committee approved his candidacy on November 6. The regulator officially announced this on November 9, and the very next day, Bösch began his work on the supervisory board. He became the sixth member of this body. The supervisory board also includes independent members Piotr Novak, Oleg Mistyuk, Oleksandr Shchur, and Peter Novak, as well as Vitaliy Zinnikov, the state representative appointed by the President of Ukraine.
Separately, on August 21, the government appointed Natalia Degtyareva as the state representative from the Cabinet of Ministers. She previously headed the National Bank’s Department of Banking Supervision. However, she will be able to assume her duties on the supervisory board only after her candidacy is approved by the regulator.
Why the addition of a sixth member is important
According to Sens Bank’s charter, the supervisory board must consist of nine members. Six of them must be independent members, and the other three must be state representatives. At least six members must be present for a meeting to be valid.
The board had been lacking precisely this number to function fully. After Bösch took office, the board achieved the necessary quorum. This means that board members can now convene for meetings and make decisions on matters within their authority.
One such issue could be the future of Board Chairman Oleksiy Stupak. The supervisory board now has the authority to consider terminating his tenure. This is significant in light of the National Bank’s concerns regarding Stupak’s compliance with professional requirements.
Why the issue regarding the chairman of the board arose
On September 1, the National Bank determined that Oleksiy Stupak did not meet the qualification requirements for professional competence. Following this, the regulator sent a request to the Cabinet of Ministers—which owns Sens Bank—to replace the chairman of the board. However, in order to consider personnel matters, the supervisory board had to operate with a quorum. Now, following the approval of Gerhard Bösch and his assumption of office, the board has the required number of members to hold meetings.
The situation is further complicated by the criminal proceedings against Stupak. On September 2, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a bail of 15 million hryvnias as a preventive measure. The court partially granted the motion filed by a NABU detective, who had requested that the bank’s CEO be taken into custody. As of September 3, Sens Bank’s deputy chairwoman, Olena Zubchenko, has been temporarily serving as acting chairwoman of the board. She is overseeing the bank’s day-to-day operations until the issue of a permanent chairperson is resolved.
Thus, the addition of a sixth member to the supervisory board has removed the obstacle to holding valid meetings. Now the board can proceed to consider personnel matters, including the situation surrounding Oleksiy Stupak. At the same time, Gerhard Bösch’s approval alone does not mean the automatic dismissal of the current chairman of the board—for that, the supervisory board must pass a separate resolution. SENS Bank announced Gerhard Bösch’s appointment via the disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has established a commission to prepare state-owned stakes in “Sens Bank” and “Ukrgasbank” for sale. The commission will determine the terms of the tenders, admit participants to the auctions, and approve the starting sale price. According to Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi, representatives of international financial organizations and European Union institutions may join the commission’s work.
People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak stated that businessman Vasyl Veselyi received 186,000 UAH per month from the state-owned “Sens Bank” for consulting services over a period of 15 months.
In August, the National Bank of Ukraine imposed sanctions on JSC “Ukrgasbank” and four non-bank financial institutions for violating legislation on the prevention and counteraction of money laundering. The regulator imposed the largest fines on the insurance company “USG” and “Ukrgasbank.”
