Andriy Pyshnyi

Andriy Hryhorovych Pyshnyi (; born 26 October 1974) is a Ukrainian politician and banker, who's currently serving as Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine since October 2022. Since 25 October 2022, he's a member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. From 2014 to 2022, he was head of Oschadbank and from 2012 to 2014, he was People's Deputy of Ukraine.

Biography Pyshnyi was born on October 26, 1974 in the Dobrovody village of Zbarazh Raion, Ternopil Oblast. His parents divorced when he was 11 years old. His mother worked at the city police department and later received the rank of major while battling cancer. After graduating, from 1996 to 2000, he remained there as a trainee teacher and assistant at Department of Constitutional, Administrative, and Financial Law. From 1998 to 2005, Pyshny was a co-owner (2%) of the LLC "Teleradiocompany "Inter-Chernivtsi" together with local politician and journalist Vasyl Zabrodsky (the latter owned 98%). Later, the firm was acquired by pro-Russian oligarchs Dmytro Firtash and Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi.

In 2008, he received a PhD in Law from the Institute of Legislation of the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv. He defended his dissertation on the topic "Legal Status of State Banks of Ukraine".

In 2010, Pyshnyi focused on Arseniy Yatsenyuk's party project "Front for Change", where he headed the party control committee. In the 2012 parliamentary elections, he was the deputy head of the Batkivshchyna headquarters, and in December, he became People's Deputy of Ukraine and was the leader of the "Yatsenyuk group" in the Batkivshchyna faction

On June 15, 2013, after the merger of the Front for Change and Batkivshchyna, he was elected deputy chairman of Batkvishchyna.

Banking career

In 2000, he moved to Kyiv to lead the legal department of Oschadbank.

On October 7, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada supported the election of Andriy Pyshnyi as Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine.

After the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pyshnyi, as National Bank Chairman, joined the Yermak-McFaul Expert Group, which developed proposals for new sanctions against Russia. During his tenure, the National Bank maintained currency interventions to support exchange-rate stability and kept the policy rate at a high level for an extended period. The bank also continued restrictions on foreign-exchange operations during the full-scale war. Critics argued that this approach increased pressure on reserves and favored consumer spending over investment, while supporters viewed it as a necessary measure to preserve financial stability.

The National Bank also faced criticism over payments to Oerlikon Balzers Coating, a German company connected to sanctioned Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg, under a contract signed in 2021. In addition, the bank’s high interest payments on deposit certificates reduced the profit transferred to the state budget, leading parliament to introduce a temporary 50% tax on bank profits. Following a 2023 scandal involving mis-coded payments, transactions to illegal online casinos in Ukraine shifted to peer-to-peer transfers using individuals’ payment cards. Restrictions introduced by the National Bank of Ukraine made such transfers more difficult for ordinary citizens but did not fully stop the shadow gambling sector, which continued operating through alternative payment methods.

Under Pyshnyi's chairmanship, the Ukrainian kopiyka was proposed to be renamed back as a shah. Pyshnyi supported the change.

Personal life Pyshnyi is married to Liudmyla Heorhiyivna (born 1973), a university lecturer. They have two children together, Svitlana (born 1998) and Daryna (born 2003). Specifically, journalists have questioned the procedure of Pyshnyi's transfer between higher education institutions in the 2000s—from Chernivtsi University to the Ukrainian Academy of Banking—suggesting that the process may have involved irregularities.

Personnel policy and the Dmytro Oliynyk case Andriy Pyshnyi has been criticized for his personnel appointments, particularly for favoring members of his former team from "Oschadbank." The most significant resonance was caused by the activities of his deputy, Dmytro Oliynyk: he is the subject of journalistic investigations regarding undeclared real estate in Dubai and potential links to sanctioned bankers (specifically Oleg Bakhmatyuk), as well as an active criminal proceeding by NABU.

Declaration On 24 May 2021, Pyshnyi’s wife, Lyudmyla, received a 10% stake in Fidnova LLC from businessman Ihor Lisky. According to public registries such as YouControl, Opendatabot, and the Clarity Project, the stake was valued at 14.4 million UAH. However, in the Pyshnyi family’s asset declarations for 2021–2024, the same stake was reported at 40 million UAH, representing a discrepancy of over 25.5 million UAH.

AIC investigation and Mindich-gate The leadership of the NBU faced criticism in connection with the work of the Temporary Ad Hoc Commission (AIC) of the Verkhovna Rada, which investigated "Operation Midas". During the commission's meetings, NBU representatives were unable to clearly explain the origin of significant volumes of cash foreign currency featured in the case materials. This served as the basis for accusations against NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi regarding insufficient financial control by the regulator.

In the so-called "Mindich tapes" published by journalists from Ukrainska Pravda, Pyshnyi's name was mentioned in a recorded conversation between businessman Tymur Mindich and former Minister of Defence Rustem Umierov. According to media reports, the materials referenced Sense Bank, a financial institution under state ownership following its nationalisation. Sources alleged that financial transactions linked to the business interests of sanctioned businessman Tymur Mindich and his associates may have passed through the bank; Vasyl Veselyi and Oleksii Stupak were separately named as individuals who allegedly coordinated part of these processes. Former NBU Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko publicly commented on the recordings, describing the phrase "call Pyshnyi" as an institutional diagnosis and stressing that the NBU could not serve as a service body for any business groups or individuals with access to political power.

Gulliver Shopping Mall Loan Under the leadership of Andriy Pyshnyi, a consortium of state-owned banks, including Oschadbank and UkrEximBank, provided a loan to the Gulliver shopping mall (Tri O LLC) in 2006. The loan became controversial due to unusually favorable restructuring terms and high risks for the state sector. By 2020, the debt had reportedly grown to $675 million. It was subsequently restructured with an interest rate of 3.65–4.15% per year and an extended repayment schedule until 2044. By 2024, the outstanding debt had reached 14 billion UAH, approximately 75% of Oschadbank’s equity. Experts have noted that the discrepancy between the collateral value and the loan amount could threaten the bank’s financial stability and potentially result in state losses estimated at 21 billion UAH.

Investment activity According to declarations for 2022–2024, the family of NBU head Andriy Pyshnyi holds more than 90% of its assets in foreign currency, generating 4.4 million UAH in income from foreign-currency government bonds, of which 2.9 million UAH was from exchange rate gains. Investment operations by Pyshnyi’s wife were conducted through Oschadbank and OTP Bank, the latter of which Pyshnyi had previously publicly criticized for continuing operations in the Russian market.

Investigation into business environment In April 2026, a video investigation was published online examining the business and charitable infrastructure allegedly connected to Pyshnyi's family. According to the material, Pyshnyi's wife Liudmyla Pyshna was a co-founder of an art gallery in the Domosfera shopping centre, which was presented publicly as a charitable project supporting the Okhmatdyt children's hospital. Former business partner of Liudmyla Pyshna, Natalia Zabolotna, alleged that the gallery functioned as a closed venue for informal meetings with the head of the regulator, and that participants in private auctions included Monobank co-owner Oleh Horokhovskyi, Dragon Capital chairman Tomas Fiala, and businessmen Serhii Tihipko and Oleksii Zozulia.

The investigation also raised questions about potential conflicts of interest, contacts with major business figures, and alleged discrepancies between certain assets and corporate ties on the one hand and Pyshnyi's public declarations on the other; the authors called on anti-corruption bodies to examine the circumstances described.

Awards and titles Honorary weapons, a Fort-17 (26 May 2014) and a Glock 26 (21 August 2014) "Banker of the Year" by the Business.ua weekly (2017)