Shadow revenge of Gontareva’s clan: How Rostislav Shurma and Pavel Shcherban plotted to seize NBU control for Bank Alliance

A major new scandal is brewing around the Alliance Bank and its de facto head, Pavlo Shcherban — the controversy centers on corruption accusations, multi-billion-hryvnia financial fraud, and covert efforts to pressure Ukraine’s central bank.

While law enforcement investigates the withdrawal of funds from Ukrenergo, information has appeared online about Shcherban’s attempts to "buy" the regulator’s loyalty through the Deputy Head of the NBU, Serhiy Nikolaychuk. Is this tandem truly striving to change the leadership of the National Bank, and what "scrubbed" connections might lead to high offices on Bankova Street? The StopCor team investigated.

Recently, the Telegram channel "Joker" published a series of messages containing serious accusations against the First Deputy Head of the NBU, Serhiy Nikolaychuk, and an employee of Alliance Bank, Pavel Shcherban. The channel’s author claims that Nikolaychuk allegedly covers for Shcherban and receives $150,000 monthly from him for "protection" within the NBU.

Furthermore, the publications claim that over the past six months, Serhiy Nikolaychuk and Pavel Shcherban have been organizing information attacks against the Head of the NBU, Andriy Pyshnyi, whom they internally call "Deaf." The channel’s author also writes that Nikolaychuk is spreading information about Pyshnyi’s possible dismissal and is vying for the position of NBU Head.

Alliance Bank: A History of Scandals Worth Billions of Hryvnia

Alliance Bank is small in size, but in terms of the number of scandals, it can outpace many larger market players. The most notorious case involves the misappropriation of funds from NEC Ukrenergo, which is being investigated by NABU.

The essence of the scheme, according to NABU, was as follows. In the fall of 2021, Alliance Bank issued bank guarantees worth almost UAH 2 billion to the company "United Energy."

The company is linked by market participants and the media to the orbit of Ihor Kolomoiskyi. The mechanism of a bank guarantee is simple: if the buyer cannot pay for the goods, the bank pays on their behalf. This principle underpins the trust in such instruments worldwide. However, in March 2022, "United Energy" failed to pay "Ukrenergo" for the received electricity, as reported on the NABU website.

When the state-owned company turned to the bank to fulfill the guarantee obligations, "Alliance" refused to pay, citing formal reasons. As a result, the state suffered multimillion-dollar losses. Depending on the calculation methodology and the inclusion of penalties, the amount ranges from UAH 700 million to UAH 1.7 billion.

NABU’s investigation revealed another interesting detail: the volume of guarantees issued exceeded the credit risk limits for a single client. Therefore, among the suspects in the criminal proceedings are not only the management of "United Energy" and officials of "Ukrenergo," but also the management of the bank itself. Investigators paid particular attention to the bank’s board chairman, Yuliia Frolova. According to law enforcement, it was her decision to issue the guarantees that may have led to the state’s losses. Currently, Frolova is abroad, and NABU has put her on the international wanted list.

However, the "Ukrenergo" case is far from the only scandal surrounding the bank. In 2024, another resonant case exploded. Lawyer Oleksii Nosov from the law firm "Miller," who represented the interests of Alliance Bank, was suspected of attempting to give a bribe amounting to $200,000. According to the investigation, this was an attempt to influence the course of the investigation and get the case transferred to another law enforcement agency.

The bank itself categorically denies any involvement in these actions. However, it is hard to believe that such a risky operation could be carried out solely on the lawyer’s initiative without the client’s knowledge. This question remains one of the key issues in the case today.

Against this backdrop, a logical question arises: who stands behind the bank that has been involved in high-profile scandals, billion-hryvnia court disputes, and criminal proceedings for years, yet continues to operate in the market without facing significant consequences for its business?

Scrubbed Mentions and Inconvenient Connections: What Shcherban and Shurma’s History Hides

Formally, the largest shareholder of Alliance Bank is Oleksandr Sosis.

However, among bankers, it’s no secret that the key influence on the institution’s activities is wielded by Pavel Shcherban. Moreover, he is considered the person who provides the bank with protection from regulatory claims and excessive law enforcement attention to the institution’s activities. And it’s not just about his position or share package. His main asset is said to be close relations with the former Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Rostyslav Shurma.

What does Shurma have to do with it? The answer, it seems, should be sought in the banker’s other business projects. And interestingly, the influence of Rostyslav Shurma seems to be visible behind many of them.

First and foremost, this concerns the gas extraction company "Viva Exploration". Formally, its owners are Shcherban and geologist Serhiy Dumenko through the Cypriot company IF Exploration Company Limited.

The company holds a license for geological study and extraction of oil and gas at the Staromizun area in the Ivano-Frankivsk region until 2033. Before the full-scale conflict, plans were made to restore old wells and increase production. However, the project did not yield the expected results. Moreover, financial statements indicate losses of around $1 million as of the end of 2023.

At the same time, investments in the company, for some reason, continue. This raises a logical question: is Shcherban truly the main investor here, or is it his "crony" Rostyslav Shurma?

Another asset that may point to the interests of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President is an elevator in Khorol, Poltava region, registered under "Alliance Elevator" LLC. Although the facility needs reconstruction and is not among the major market players, it is seemingly viewed as a first step towards a larger presence in the agricultural sector. Especially since the demand for grain storage in Ukraine remains consistently high.

As "Rozsliduvach" writes, a separate direction is the IT business. Here, a whole pool of companies has already formed around Shcherban: "Alliance Digital," "Asigs," "APL," and "Motwell." Some develop products for the banking sector, while others work with retail chains and digital services. And it is here that Shurma’s potential interest can be traced. He has long been associated with promoting digital solutions in the economy and ambitions to strengthen his own influence on digital transformation. In this case, Shcherban’s IT assets may not just be a business but also a foundation for creating his own ecosystem of digital projects.

"Rozsliduvach" hints that this motley business empire is difficult to reconcile with the role of the chairman of the supervisory board of a bank that has been going through hard times for a long time. Therefore, two options are possible: either Alliance Bank is not a key asset for Shcherban, or a significant part of these projects is merely an investment portfolio where he acts not as a manager but as a passive investor. This raises another question: whose funds truly stand behind these assets?

However, information about the connection with Rostyslav Shurma is not so easy to find on the internet. Because, strangely enough, all websites, as they say, have been scrubbed. This is how the information appears in search results:

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And after opening the page, it looks different. That is, all information about the possible connection between Pavel Shcherban and Rostyslav Shurma has practically disappeared from open access.

 

Another interesting figure in this story is the current Deputy Head of the NBU, Serhiy Nikolaychuk. His name was also mentioned by the Telegram channel "Joker," calling Nikolaychuk "Gontareva and Rozhkova’s man."

Valeriya Gontareva does not hide her positive attitude towards Nikolaychuk. In an interview with Glavcom, she called his appointment "the best appointment to the National Bank in the last two years" and one of the best macroeconomists in Ukraine.

"I think this is the best appointment the National Bank has made in the last two years. Because Serhiy is one of the best macroeconomists in Ukraine," Gontareva noted.

Interestingly, Nikolaychuk indeed worked at the NBU during the period when key positions in the regulator were held by Valeriya Gontareva and Kateryna Rozhkova.

In 2025, Serhiy Nikolaychuk replaces Kateryna Rozhkova on the NBU Board. This is not a story of a new person in the system. Previously, they worked side by side for over a decade, navigating through changes in NBU leadership, governments, and presidents. Perhaps that is why Rozhkova’s statement that she worked best during the times of Gontareva and Smoliy sounds quite different today.

Thus, he remains one of the few NBU officials who manage to retain influential positions regardless of changes in the regulator’s leadership or political power in the country.

Therefore, the information appearing on the Telegram channel "Joker" likely exposes the state of affairs in the financial sector: is the tandem of Nikolaychuk and Shcherban working to remove Andriy Pyshnyi from the position of NBU Head?

The multi-billion hryvnia "Ukrenergo" case, the suspicion of attempting to give a $200,000 bribe,Pavel Shcherban’s business connections, mentions of Rostyslav Shurma, and the accusations published by the Telegram channel "Joker" against Serhiy Nikolaychuk all form one big picture. How truthful the individual claims are and who truly stands behind these processes should be determined by the competent authorities. However, it is already clear today that more questions than answers surround Alliance Bank and the individuals associated with it.

The editorial team has sent inquiries to the National Bank of Ukraine regarding the regulator’s position on the activities of JSC "Bank Alliance," the existence of claims against the bank from the NBU, the results of inspections of the institution, and enforcement measures applied to it.

Also to JSC "Bank Alliance" regarding the bank’s position on the court disputes, criminal proceedings, and information about the activities and role of Pavel Shcherban mentioned in the material.

Inquiries have been sent to NABU regarding the current status of criminal proceedings involving Alliance Bank or its officials.