2023-03-21
EU Twinning Project “Strengthening the institutional and regulatory capacity of the National Bank of Ukraine to implement the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement”
“Another milestone was achieved with the completion of the EU Twinning project in our cooperation among the Bank of Lithuania, the National Bank of Ukraine, the National Bank of Poland and the EU. I sincerely believe that the project added to the progress of the National Bank of Ukraine and brings it closer to the EU Membership,” said Simonas Krėpšta, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania. He gave a speech at the final event concluding the implementation of the EU-funded Twinning Project in support of Ukraine’s central bank.
Twinning (close cooperation between partner institutions from public administrations) was introduced by the European Commission in 1998 as an instrument to assist the then candidate countries aspiring to the EU membership. Since 2004, Twinning is also applied to EU assistance to non-EU neighbour countries in order to strengthen their public institutions in selected areas.
In the EUR 1 million project that has just been completed, the National Bank of Ukraine has been assisted by a consortium of two central banks from the EU: the Bank of Lithuania and the National Bank of Poland. Apart from Lithuanian and Polish experts, there were tens of specialists involved in the project from central banks of Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.
The overall aim of the project was to strengthen the capacity of the National Bank of Ukraine so that it is better prepared to fulfil its tasks stemming from the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The decision taken by the EU in June 2022 to grant the status of the candidate country to Ukraine exposed the need for further strengthening of the capacity of the National Bank of Ukraine to meet new challenges.
The project commenced in October 2020. Despite the pandemic which enforced exclusively online communication and then the russian invasion of Ukraine resulting in extreme uncertainty, after a 3-month suspension in the second quarter of 2022 the project was resumed and finalised in March 2023. Encouraged by the determination of the National Bank of Ukraine and its personnel, experts from various EU Member States were resolute to withstand the challenges stemming from the pandemic and the war. Thanks to the commitment of all the parties involved, the objectives of the project were met.
The major effects of the project are the following:
- Improved selected methods and techniques of the supervision of commercial banks;
- A model of instant payments system prepared by the National Bank of Ukraine;
- Selected new methods of strategic planning and monitoring developed;
- Improvements in the National Bank of Ukraine’s capacity to handle its relations with international financial institutions and prepare for meeting the requirements of EU Membership;
- Identification of requirements to be met in order to join the Single Euro Payments Area.
The Bank of Lithuania and the National Bank of Poland stand ready to provide further support to the National Bank of Ukraine in its efforts to join the European System of Central Banks.