KYIV, Sept 17 – The Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on Wednesday allowed the payment of salaries to the top management of state-owned PrivatBank, Oschadbank and Ukreximbank in excess of the quarantine limit of UAH 47,000.

"The existing... limitation of monthly payments of remuneration and wages for members of the management bodies of banks for the period of quarantine... creates a significant operational and strategic risk associated with the loss of operational management and reduced control over the activities of state-owned banks, as well as [a risk of] failing to meet the strategies and business plans by the banks," Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said during the meeting, citing data from the Ministry of Finance.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has already established that the presence of such restrictions on wages constitutes an organizational risk for banks.

On April 29, the government recommended limiting the salaries of heads of executive bodies and members of supervisory boards of state-owned companies to UAH 47,000 per month.

In addition, the Ukrainian authorities in the IMF memorandum on the new Stand-By Arrangement undertook to cancel this recommendation before July 1 of this year, but this was not done.

On August 28, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared unconstitutional certain provisions of the Cabinet of Ministers resolution on the establishment of quarantine restrictions in Ukraine, including on the restrictions on the salaries of top managers of state-run companies. (om/ez)