SIBOS networking

It is always great to meet friends and colleagues physically. Three years of COVID restrictions pushed us into online space. I find it amazing that these days we can talk and see each other any time of the day from any place of the world. What an amazing hyperconnected world we are living in.

However, russist virus takes over COVID, so, for Ukrainians physical or online meetings became more complicated. And, as we fend off COVID virus, now the world is in the process of overcoming russist virus.

SIBOS provided an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues and collaborate in excellent way. SWIFT again delivered excellence by organizing and supporting this fantastic convention.

One of the topics debated on SIBOS was CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). Blockchain opened a lot of possibilities to change banknotes for electronic cash. Not only that. CBDCs might add more options for the central banks to manage money supply in a straightforward way.

I had a pleasure to discuss these challenges and opportunities created by CBDC with Andrew Podderiogin and Volodymyr Nagorniuk from the National Bank of Ukraine.

NBU is exploring the CBDC as many other banks in the world do. Russian criminals waging the war in Ukraine forcefully changed Ukrainians' peace to the war economy. However, these peculiar economic turnaround also offers a lot of opportunities to implement new technological advances as cash complementary CBDC. CBDC could really solve problems of money accessibility and financial possibility to cut off russian criminals from the financial system.

I am pretty sure that great discussions will follow to development and rapid implementation of new banking products with NBU supervision to solve substantial problems of Ukrainians today.

Yuri Vlasenko

Executive Director

UkrSWIFT