International technical partnership is a part of the international relations of the NBU. The NBU develops this area together with international development partners by attracting and sharing the best international experience and special expertise, obtaining intellectual property rights, providing consultations, and carrying out research, as well as sharing with the international financial community the NBU’s experience and expertise in implementing the most successful internal transformation projects and reforms of Ukraine’s financial system, including its unique experience and expertise in ensuring financial stability and business continuity under martial law.
The purpose of the international technical partnership is:
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International technical cooperation is the experience and expertise of international development partners to achieve the highest standards of the NBU’s institutional capacity, as well as international technical assistance to the NBU, including: resources and services provided to the NBU on a free and irrevocable basis by international development partners in accordance with current international treaties ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
International technical cooperation measures are aimed at ensuring the stability of Ukraine's financial system through improving monetary policy, regulating and supervising the activities of banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFI), and increasing the level of financial inclusion of citizens, protecting the rights of financial services consumers and investors, bringing financial sector participants’ reporting in line with international standards, developing the payment market infrastructure and settlement operations, developing digital technologies in finance, deepening European integration etc.
The NBU maintains a constant dialogue with international development partners. Key partners that have been assisting Ukraine and the NBU over the years include: The European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (suspended from 20 January 2025), the UK Government Governance Fund (GGF), the Swiss state secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany through the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Furthermore, cooperation with central banks and financial sector regulators in other countries is deepening and expanding. In 2024, the NBU cooperated with thirty-six central banks and nine other financial sector regulators, and most actively with the European Central Bank (ECB), central banks and regulators in England, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France and Sweden.
With the strong support of international partners, the NBU received the most up-to-date knowledge during 2024, which contributed to the development of the financial system of Ukraine and its adaptation to European and best international practices, namely: ensuring macro-financial stability, stability during martial law and for the purposes of post-war reconstruction, strengthening the Forecasting and Policy Analysis System (FPAS), hedging currency risks, supporting the liquidity of Ukrainian banks, regulating and supervising the non-bank financial sector, including reforming the regulation of factoring in Ukraine and military risk insurance, improving regulation and developing risk-oriented supervision of the financial sector, in particular in the field of AML/FT, trends in cash circulation, in particular transportation, cash collection and processing, innovation and operation of payment systems, including the issue of digital currency of the central bank (CBDC), instant payments, improvement of electronic remote identification of individuals using the BankID System of the NBU, improvement of communications, improvement of financial literacy (including support for relevant information campaigns), improvement of the level of protection of financial services consumers, current trends in approaches to internal audit, risk management, introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), implementation of ECB guidelines in accounting and reporting, etc.
The NBU regularly holds joint meetings with international development partners to discuss current issues and the results of international technical cooperation.
Since 2017, the NBU has become an international platform for developing relations and strengthening dialogue with members of the global financial and banking community through sharing the experience and special knowledge on the most relevant topics. Despite the difficult conditions of war and turbulence, the NBU holds international conferences, meetings, round tables, bilateral expert events and meetings, events to implement bilateral and multilateral agreements with international development partners. The growing interest and demand from the international audience confirms the importance and relevance of these initiatives.
In 2024, the NBU held three international events:
At the invitation of international development partners and central banks of other countries, the NBU participated in international conferences, round tables, forums on the regulation of NBFI activities, monetary policy and the impact of communications on macroeconomic results, operational, information and cyber security, financial literacy (including digital one), confidence building and crisis communications, financial stability and crisis management, banking supervision, risk management, BankID of the NBU, internal audit (including ESG audit).
An important area in the development of the NBU's international technical partnership was the launch in 2022 of a new area – the dissemination of the NBU's experience and specialized knowledge among the international financial community. During 2024, there was a trend of further growth in demand (2.1 times compared to 2023) for expert knowledge of the NBU. Given the general geopolitical tensions, partners are interested in Ukraine’s experience and the actual work of the NBU in a turbulent environment, as the experience of a country at war and facing extraordinary challenges on a daily basis is unique in each case. That is why financial sector regulators in other countries are eager to take into account the lessons learned by the NBU to ensure the resilience and adaptability of their financial systems. In 2024, the NBU shared its experience in responding to requests from international partners on:
Also, at the initiative of the NBU, a webinar was held in 2024 "Purchasing armour: missile-proof supply chains of the National bank of Ukraine" for 23 central banks of other countries and international financial organizations, the ECB, the EBRD and the Ministry of Defense of Latvia.
