Andriy Pyshnyi, Ukraine Central Bank Governor in Kyiv, Ukraine, in a photograph posted on 4 June 4, 2026. (Andriy Pyshnyi / Facebook)For four years, Ukraine’s central bank has faced full scale-invasion, bouts of inflation, and the relentless task of keeping Ukraine’s financial system afloat through it all.But under Governor Andrii Pyshnyi’s tenure, which started in late 2022, the bank has also overseen the monumental rise of Ukraine’s mil-tech sector, progress towards privatization Ukraine’s massive state-owned banks, and — slowly but surely — alignment with EU regulation, which the bank aims to complete by the end of 2027.The Kyiv Independent sat down with Governor Pyshnyi on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk, Poland at the end of June, to discuss these deeper trends.Among the bank's top priorities for the near future is what Pyshnyi called an "ambitious plan" to launch the privatization of state-owned banks, saying that he expects Sense Bank and Ukrgazbank to be privatized by the end of the year. On the state-owned giants Oshchadbank and PrivatBank — Ukraine's largest bank that was nationalized in 2015 — interested investors will have to wait, according to Pyshnyi. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.The Kyiv Independent: What is the plan for privatizing Ukraine's state-owned banks this year? Which banks do you expect to be privatized?Governor Pyshnyi: The privatization of state-owned banks mainly falls in the scope of responsibility of the government, but the National Bank is also interested that this process of privatization is completed this year, and we want it to generate sufficient amounts for the state budget. We also want it to bring us new investors that will fuel the healthy competition in the market.By the end of June, the Ukrainian government should adopt the Strategy on the State-Owned Banking Sector, where we expect to see the answers to all these questions!