Contrary to IMF requirements: How Mindich and Umerov’s "films" undermine Ukraine’s financial system

Contrary to IMF requirements: How Mindich and Umerov’s "films" undermine Ukraine’s financial system

The National Bank of Ukraine has been drawn into unofficial management through the entourage of the Office of the President.

Audio recordings known as «Mindich tapes», demonstrate discussions of financial issues at a level that officially has no relation to them. Former MP Boryslav Bereza, analyzing NABU investigation materials, directly states the loss of NBU independence and its use to satisfy the needs of a narrow circle of individuals from the OP entourage.

The focus of the recordings — conversations between businessman Tymur Mindich and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. They discuss the shortage of funds for defence contracts and ways to address it. Instead of standard banking procedures, there are direct instructions: connect the NBU, involve its management, involve state banks. Phrases like «did you call Pyshnyi?» and suggestions «to call Sense» illustrate the decision-making style — not through market and regulatory channels, but through personal contacts.

NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi in this scheme appears not as an independent regulator, but as an executor providing access to resources on first demand. According to Bereza, his appointment from the outset was conditioned not by macrofinancial stability tasks, but by readiness to perform such roles.

Special attention — state-owned Sense Bank. The recordings mention brothers Andriy and Vasyl Veselyi. In business circles, Vasyl Veselyi is considered a key figure controlling the bank. In 2024, he began receiving official income from the bank and became an advisor to the management, although he has no banking sector experience. According to sources, the bank did not make important decisions without his consent.

On the audio, the formation of Sense Bank’s supervisory board is discussed so that the majority of its members are subordinate to one group. Connections with figures in «Energoatom» cases also surface, including Oleksandr Tsukerman. This intertwines banking decisions with energy sector interests.

The second part of the recordings concerns influence on strategic assets, including «Karpatnaftohim». Mentions of ties to the OP entourage and informal roles surface, including a character nicknamed «Surgeon», whom journalists associate with Andriy Yermak.

The first part of the «tapes» covered other topics — construction of a cottage community in Kozyn and a deal for the Fire Point company worth about 600 million dollars. Per the agreements, half the funds went to development, the rest — to shareholders. Mindich publicly denied involvement, but the investigation sees him as the organizer of embezzlement and money laundering schemes, including «Energoatom» cases. In December 2025, he was remotely assigned a measure of pre-trial restraint — arrest, with consideration of declaring him in international wanted status.

The recordings show that issues of money distribution, banking operations, and large assets are resolved outside official procedures. Against the backdrop of IMF and other partners’ demands for NBU independence, this directly impacts the assessment of Ukraine’s financial system and the conditions for further financial support.