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accounts this week and all money transfers after Nov. 1.
Fast adopters of new technologies, Ukrainians increased their contactless payment cards this year by 36%, reports the National Bank of Ukraine. Contactless cards increased to 5.3mn and cards with electronic chips increased by 24%, to 1.4mn. Cards account for half of all payments in shops. Overall, there is 63.2mn payments card of all types in Ukraine, about twice the country’s adult population. There are now 71 card payment systems in Ukraine.
8.1.4 Bank news
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has rejected five newly elected members of the second largest state-owned Oschadbank’s supervisory board, as well as said that the regulator is "deeply concerned" by the recent extension of a contract with the bank's CEO Andriy Pyshnyy for another five years. "The applicants [for the board's members] were also tested and interviewed," the regulator said in a statement on August 16. "This decision is based on the results of interviews conducted by the qualification committee jointly with the NBU board. In line with its legal rights, the NBU will require the bank to change the above mentioned members of the supervisory board. The NBU is deeply concerned about the procedure in accordance with which the newly selected Supervisory Board of Oschadbank extended the contract with the Chairman of Oschadbank’s Board. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine On Banks and Banking Activity, which provides for the reform of corporate governance in state-owned banks, the procedure of appointing the Chairman of the Board must be conducted on a competitive basis. Nevertheless, the Supervisory Board of Oschadbank resolved to extend the contract with the current Chairman by another five years without holding a competition.
The former headquarters of Kreschatyk Bank goes up for auction on August 29. A 1950s landmark at Khreschatyk 8a, between Hotel Krescahtyk and a Mafia restaurant, the building has 7,500 square meters of space. Setting a starting price of $17mn, the Retail Deposit Guarantee Fund plans to use the money to pay off creditors and large depositors of the bank, which was declared insolvent in 2016.
8.2 Central Bank policy rate
Monetary policy rates remain on hold. The Board of the National Bank of Ukraine last cut the key policy rate to 17.0% per annum effective 19 July 2019. The NBU continues the cycle of monetary policy easing as inflation is declining towards the target of 5%.
56 UKRAINE Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com