An Ultimatum in Reverse
Igor Smilyanski, who has headed Ukrposhta for nine years, made an atypical move: publicly offered his own resignation as a bargaining chip in a dispute with the National Bank. In the podcast "What's the Challenge?" he revealed that he personally informed President Zelensky of his willingness to resign.
"The NBU frames this as Smilyanski's whim. It's not Smilyanski's whim. I told the president that I'm ready to submit my resignation on the very first day: the NBU gives Ukrposhta a bank, and I write my resignation. If the issue is Smilyanski — we remove the Smilyanski issue. Let them give it, and I'll go".
Igor Smilyanski, CEO of Ukrposhta
This is more than just a gesture. According to Smilyanski, the NBU still has not developed a procedure for submitting documents to obtain a limited banking license — even though the president signed the corresponding law at the end of December 2025. Without this procedure, Ukrposhta legally cannot even begin the process.
What's Behind the Conflict
The idea of a postal bank is not new. Before the full-scale invasion, Ukrposhta tried to acquire "Alpari Bank," then "Sich Bank." The closest attempt was PINbank, confiscated from sanctioned Russian billionaire Yevgen Hiner (88.89% of shares). In January 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred these shares not to Ukrposhta, but to the Ministry of Community Development. Later, the NBU declared PINbank insolvent, and the bank was purchased by Polish fintech company ZEN.com.
The NBU's position remains unchanged: a banking license applicant must be profitable. Ukrposhta is not. Over 2022–2024, the company's losses reached 2.5 billion hryvnias, and capitalization fell from 2.8 billion hryvnias to 0.2 billion hryvnias — nearly 13 times. As of July 1, 2025, the company's equity was minus 661.5 million hryvnias. The NBU, in a letter to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, called for recapitalization of at least 826 million hryvnias and included Ukrposhta's default in the list of four key risks to the financial market.
Smilyanski responds: the NBU itself "decimated" the company's capital by changing calculation standards in June 2025 — and these changes affected only the postal operator. Before that moment, capital was positive. After the standards changed, Ukrposhta legally lost the right to even submit documents to acquire a bank.
"After the NBU 'decimated' Ukrposhta's capital, Ukrposhta had no right to submit documents to acquire a bank. Had no right, despite numerous attempts to find a solution through our shareholders, the Ministry of Economy, and others".
Igor Smilyanski, on Threads
Why Smilyanski Needs This — and Who It Threatens
The argument about public benefit is concrete: Ukrposhta is present in every populated area of the country, including those where no private bank operates. The law on financial inclusion, adopted by the Rada in June 2025 and signed by Zelensky in December, provides for exactly this format — a "financial inclusion bank" with a limited license to serve socially vulnerable categories, pay pensions, open accounts in remote areas.
The competitive dimension is also real. According to Smilyanski, a postal bank will indeed take some clients from state-owned Oschadbank and Privatbank. This, in his opinion, is the real reason for the regulator's resistance — protecting the positions of two state banks, not concern for financial stability.
- The NBU did not develop a procedure for licensing financial inclusion banks — a month after the law was signed
- In December 2025, the NBU issued Ukrposhta an official written warning for violating the law on payment services
- Smilyanski publicly stated that NBU Governor Andrii Pyshnyi "groundlessly accused him of all sins" at the Financial Stability Council
- The company completed the fourth quarter of 2024 with, according to Smilyanski, a "record profit since the war began" — but the NBU disputes these figures
There are no complaints about management over nine years — no corruption scandals, Smilyanski emphasizes. But he will not file a defamation lawsuit: the NBU is a key intermediary in negotiations with Ukraine's international financial partners, and suing it means cutting the branch you're sitting on.
What's Next
The public "trade-off" — resignation in exchange for a license — is not a real proposal, but a demonstration that the NBU is blocking not a manager, but state policy. If the NBU does not approve the licensing procedure required by law by the end of the first quarter of 2026, this will give the Cabinet grounds to ask the regulator directly: why is a body accountable to parliament ignoring a law signed by the president?
