All corrupt officials, get out!

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Employees of the National Bank of Ukraine await their fate following the cleansing of the country`s central bank. Overstaffed subdivisions are being eradicated and many of their employees are politely being shown to the door. Bank employees understand the actions of their new boss Volodymyr Stelmakh, who has launched a major anti-corruption campaign.

The actions of the central bank of Ukraine correspond to the general mood of the new government. At the moment, the NBU is resolving its staffing issue through a currently popular methods - structures are simply eliminated. At the moment, the NBU is resolving its staffing issue through a currently popular method - structures are simply eliminated and employees are dismissed. In any case, observers are not so much surprised by the downsizing itself as they are by the principles to which Stelmakh adheres. By one of his latest decrees, the NBU governor closed the Central Banking Oversight Department in order to replace it with several individual sub - departments. In addition, the new governor decided to eliminate the Central Economic Department and the Department for Methodological, Legislative and Organizational Provision of Financial Monitoring. It is planned that sub. Sections replacing the large ones will not have as many employees. As a result, all NBU employees not transferred to the new structures will automatically be dismissed.

In what can be rightfully called ?spring housecleaning? in the country`s central bank, the accent is being placed on ridding the institution of blatant corruption.. President Victor Yushchenko, whom Stelmakh consulted prior to be reshuffling in the NBU, knows better than anybody what concentration of power in a certain field could result in and gave his support of the current policy to the NBU governor.

Seeing as a new president climbed the professional ladder though the NBU for several years, he is well versed with the overall situation. The action s of the bank governor were explained as follows: ?Everybody understands very well that the department for banking oversight is in its essence corrupt. One could only imagine the amounts that commercial banks pay their so - called curators to avoid being penalized. (Official fines could amount to millions of hryvnia - KW). For this very reason, everything possible is being done so that the powers in banking oversight are not concentrated in the hands of a few. Everyone clearly realized that there will still be bribery, but it can be minimized. Splitting up the functions is one of the ways of doing so.? Moreover, the commercial banks do not rule out the possibility that Stelmakh is bringing the NBU back to the way it operated two years ago before he was dismissed.