Ruslan Demchak
RWS Bank fails to comply with legal requirements regarding ownership transparency and violates economic regulations. However, for political reasons, the National Bank cannot liquidate RWS Bank, which is owned by Ruslan Demchak, a member of parliament from the Petro Poroshenko bloc. (Read more: Ruslan Demchak – a schemer and swindler under the President's wing), nor can it recognize him as the real owner of the bank.
Thus, the financial institution has been effectively on the brink of death for many months, with no legal way out of this impasse. This was stated by a source from the National Bank of Ukraine, who wished to remain anonymous.
"RVS Bank is currently in a life-or-death situation: it still has a murky ownership structure and beneficiaries, and the bank's shareholders are doing nothing to legitimize it. Under the new legislation, a bank with murky shareholders cannot exist in principle. The NBU is simply doing nothing for now—they've been blindsided. But the question of liquidating RVC Bank will soon arise again—the NBU can't turn a blind eye forever," said a source from the NBU.
In addition to the ownership structure, the regulator is concerned about the fact that RBC Bank is failing to meet economic standards: "According to formal criteria, the National Bank should have long ago recognized it as problematic and initiated the introduction of a temporary administration," the source said.
Legislation requires the NBU to classify banks as problematic both in cases of failure to disclose their ownership structure and in cases of violation of economic regulations, a National Bank representative clarified.
As it turns out, the National Bank's official website does indeed contain no information about the ownership structure of RVS Bank.
It is not on the list of financial institutions that have agreed on their ownership structure with the NBU, nor is it on the list of banks that have taken steps to legitimize their shareholders and owners. RBC Bank is the only financial institution in the banking market that continues to operate without disclosing its beneficiary, as required by law.
Previously, the NBU formally approved the acquisition of a significant stake in RBC Bank (then Omega Bank) by Oleksandr Stetsyuk, the owner of the British holding company UBG. However, he is considered only a nominal representative of the interests of MP Ruslan Demchak, who owns a portion of UBG's shares. At the same time, Demchak himself cannot be a bank owner after deliberately driving RD Bank into bankruptcy—the former banker and MP has a shady reputation.
NBU representatives previously acknowledged that Oleksandr Stetsyuk's approval to acquire the bank was a misunderstanding: "The approval was granted to the Ukrainian Business Group, owned by Oleksandr Stetsyuk. Stetsyuk had an impeccable reputation, meeting all our requirements. And we granted him approval before the amendments came into force that allowed us to verify the ultimate beneficiary's financial status. If the matter were being considered today, we would have reviewed his 2014 declaration and, having found no actual income or assets, would have had to deny it," said Leonid Antonenko, former director of the NBU's Registration and Licensing Department.
NBU sources admit they cannot liquidate RVS Bank because Ruslan Demchak, a member of the presidential faction, has powerful patrons in the Poroshenko administration. They are the ones helping Demchak win dubious lawsuits against the NBU and keep the bank on the brink of death.
"If it were just the National Bank, RVS Bank would have been gone long ago. But politics is at play here," said a source at the NBU.
Since political balances are quite precarious and the situation could change at any moment, Ruslan Demchak decided to hedge his bets. Taking advantage of his status as a member of parliament and deputy head of the parliamentary committee on financial policy and banking, Demchak is trying to protect his bank from liquidation in a rather original way: he is actively lobbying for a temporary moratorium on bank liquidations, supposedly intended to restore confidence in financial institutions and stabilize the banking system.
A mention of such a moratorium is included in one of the versions of the "Banking System Development Strategy," which is being developed by the Verkhovna Rada's Financial and Banking Committee. This document is an alternative to a similar strategy of the National Bank. The document, which could, under a plausible pretext, prohibit the National Bank from liquidating financial institutions, is being actively promoted and promoted by Serhiy Rybalko, head of the Verkhovna Rada's Financial and Banking Committee.
How often do fine words about strategies, reforms, and stabilization conceal banal lobbying? For Demchak himself, who has actively joined the work on an alternative strategy and is pushing for a moratorium on bankruptcies, this is simply an attempt to save his RVS Bank. Moreover, Demchak must protect and preserve the investments received from prominent criminal figures who helped the bankrupt banker get back on his feet. And if Demchak squanders their money, resources, and support…
We will talk about this and much more in more detail in future publications.
Read more: Ruslan Demchak – a schemer and swindler under the President's wing
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