Following a submission on 21^st December 2017 by the President of Ukraine – Petro Poroshenko, the Verkhovna Rada has appointed Yakiv Smolii to the post of Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.

The relevant Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decision No 7501 was voted in by 247 Members of Parliament.

Yakiv Smolii becomes the tenth Governor of the National Bank in the history of independent Ukraine. He has served as Acting Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine since 11 May 2017.

Yakiv Smolii has been working in the Ukrainian banking sector since its earliest days. He also has extensive technology experience, having started his career in banking software and IT. In 1994 he became Head of the Automation Office at the Aval Joint Stock Post Pension Bank. MrSmolii was later promoted to Deputy Chairman of the Board at the Bank.

He joined the National Bank of Ukraine team in April 2014 and since then has held the position of the Deputy Governor of the National Bank, supervising settlement transactions.

Yakiv Smolii has been the First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine since October 2016.

At the same time as Yakiv Smolii’s appointment as Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada has voted to remove Valeria Gontareva from the post, accepting her resignation by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Decision No 7500. A report on the results of her work as National Bank of Ukraine Governor is available via this link.

Valeria Gontareva ended her professional activity at the National Bank of Ukraine on 11 May 2017 and has been on leave pending a decision by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.