Years of violations and millions in fines: NBU demands the suspension of the head of "Ukrposhta"

The National Bank of Ukraine has found the CEO of JSC “Ukrposhta” Ihor Smiliansky to not meet the professional suitability requirements established for the head of a provider of financial payment services.

The regulator announced the decision on 23 June 2026.

Within 5 working days the authorized body of “Ukrposhta” must suspend Ihor Smiliansky from leading the company. During the following 2 months the company must appoint a new head who meets the NBU’s requirements.

The decision was adopted by the Committee on Supervision and Regulation of Banks’ Activities and Oversight of the Payment Infrastructure.

“Ukrposhta” is not only a postal operator but also holds an NBU license to provide financial payment services. Through post offices, citizens pay utilities, receive pensions and social benefits, and make money transfers, so in this part of its activities the company is subject to supervision by the National Bank.

The procedure for assessing Ihor Smiliansky’s professional suitability began after supervisory measures regarding “Ukrposhta”’s operations in 2023-2026.

During this time the regulator repeatedly imposed fines and written warnings on the company for violations in the area of payment services and financial monitoring, as well as for deficiencies in risk management and internal control.

After reviewing the materials and interviewing the CEO, the NBU’s qualification commission concluded that Ihor Smiliansky does not have a sufficient level of knowledge of the legislation, understanding, and experience for its proper application.

In particular, the regulator raised concerns about corporate governance, internal control, financial monitoring and risk management at the state-owned company.

In 2024-2026 the NBU applied the following financial sanctions to “Ukrposhta”:

• in February 2024 – a fine of 17,387,053 hryvnias for inadequate organization and conduct of primary financial monitoring;
• in July 2025 – a written warning due to deficiencies in internal documents in the field of anti-money laundering and risk management;
• in December 2025 – a written warning for violations of legislation in the payment market;
• in March 2026 – a fine of 255,000 hryvnias for failing to submit requested documents to the regulator within the established deadline;
• in May 2026 – a fine of 1.7 million hryvnias for inadequate functioning of corporate governance, internal control and the risk management system;
• in June 2026 – a fine of 2,544,942.03 hryvnias and a written warning for numerous violations of the rules for conducting payment operations, acquiring and handling documents containing the payment service provider’s confidential information.

The total amount of the NBU fines mentioned is 21,886,995.03 hryvnias.

The regulator’s decision does not provide for the suspension of post offices’ operation or the provision of services to citizens. The NBU has obliged “Ukrposhta” to replace the CEO and bring the company’s activities into compliance with the law.

Ihor Smiliansky reacted sharply to the NBU’s decision to suspend him from leading “Ukrposhta”. He called the regulator’s actions a settling of personal scores by the head of the NBU Andrii Pyshnyi, linked the conflict to the postal bank and promised to challenge it in court.

“This is complete bullshit and, importantly, the use of the office to settle personal scores,” – he said.

The head of “Ukrposhta” also warned Andrii Pyshnyi to be careful with his assets.

Earlier we wrote:

• “Love Ukraine for money”: the head of “Ukrposhta” called those unhappy with his salary “goats”
• “You’re sick in the head”, – the head of “Ukrposhta” about Ukrainians who work for the “minimum wage”
• The CEO of “Ukrposhta” apologized over an advertisement featuring an image of a schoolgirl
• A new logo for hundreds of thousands, while people face queues and cold: the realities of Mykolaiv’s “Ukrposhta”
• “Ukrposhta” paid 640,000 hryvnias for a new logo despite losses