““They just pulled the plug on us”: Concordia co-founder Yulia Sosedka told how the National Bank decided to withdraw the bank from the marketConcordia co-founder Yulia Sosedka spoke about the NBU’s unexpected decision to liquidate the bank due to “mis-coding”, despite
the absence of claims from Visa and Mastercard. The bank won two lawsuits, but the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, citing
the lack of shareholders’ right to sue the National Bank.
”, — write: unn.ua
The switch was turned offOn August 1, 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine decided to revoke the banking license and liquidate “Concord”, citing violations in the form of “mis-coding”. This is incorrect coding of transactions after the legalization of gambling in Ukraine. However, “Concord” constantly complied with the requirements of international payment systems Mastercard and Visa and had no fines or remarks in the last two years of its operation.
According to Yulia Sosedka, she learned about the National Bank’s decision while abroad. After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she fled the war to Israel with her six children.
The bank was audited, and we are accused of operations that are not regulated by law (the concept of mis-coding does not exist in Ukrainian legislation – ed.)… These operations are related to acquiring. At the same time, the National Bank blames us for these operations, while Visa and Mastercard, i.e., those who monitor these operations, have no complaints against us.
According to her, the Visa payment system, on the contrary, then recognized “Concord” as the most technologically advanced principal bank in Ukraine, i.e., an intermediary bank between the system and the rest of the less advanced banks.
“They fully recognize us, choose us as their best partners, they cooperate with us,” Yulia Sosedka explained.
However, the National Bank, believing that an error had been made in the bank’s work, ignored this fact and decided to immediately apply the toughest measures against “Concord”.
Understanding its responsibility to its clients and in order not to stop the bank’s operations, “Concord” paid a large fine imposed by the regulator and simultaneously prepared documents to appeal this sanction. At the same time, the management constantly contacted its curator from the NBU.
After that, a meeting was held with the National Bank, during which the chairman of the board of “Concord” presented the regulator with a new development plan for the financial institution, which excluded the possibility of acquiring. Yulia Sosedka notes that after this meeting, the shareholders were confident that the bank would continue its further technological development, especially since the issue of acquiring was not regulated by law.
The National Bank disconnected “Concord” from the electronic payment system before the meeting, but the cards were still working.
“In the evening, our cards became invalid. They just turned off the switch on us, they just turned off the switch on us,” Yulia Sosedka recalls.
Due to the bank’s liquidation, more than a thousand people lost their jobs. In addition, the DobroDiy Charity Exchange, founded by Yulia and Olena Sosedka, suffered due to this decision of the National Bank. All senior management deducted 10% of their salaries for charity, and the bank itself also helped the Exchange.
“DobroDiy” continues to help seriously ill children, as well as the Defense Forces, but after the liquidation of “Concord”, according to Yulia Sosedka, it has become more difficult to do so.
Liquidation processDuring the liquidation, “Concord” fully settled with everyone – depositors, private entrepreneurs, legal entities, and others. Only shareholders from the authorized capital have not yet received their funds back.
We won two courts – the court of first instance, the appellate court – regarding the fact that the National Bank illegally deprived us of our license. The National Bank filed with the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court rejected us. With an absolutely mocking wording – we were rejected because we had no right to sue the National Bank. We were not rejected on the merits. They wrote that. We say – what about the rights of shareholders? I am a shareholder, but I am also a person, why do I not have the right to sue? Especially since the court of first instance recognized the correctness, as did the court of second instance.
According to her, she experiences this a little easier than her sister, co-founder of “Concord” Olena Sosedka. Yulia Sosedka noted that motherhood helps them cope with the situation – both Olena and Yulia are mothers of many children, who have the status of “Mother-Heroine”.
“It’s very difficult. Where does she (Olena – ed.) find the strength to smile? Well, probably children, just like me. Because we are also mothers, we turned out to be so fruitful. I have six children, Lenochka also has six. Five and an adult adopted daughter whom she adopted when the girl was already 11 years old. Well, in general, that’s the story. That’s such a wild story,” Yulia Sosedka noted.
AdditionallyShareholders of Ukrainian banks do not have legal instruments to protect their business due to the unlimited power of the NBU and the Deposit Guarantee Fund. The Supreme Court closed the case of “Concord” bank, overturning the decisions of lower instances.