Who Is Kyrylo Shevchenko?

Chairman of the Management Board/ Chief Executive Officer at Ukrgasbank Date of birth: October 25, 1972 A renowned manager in the area of banking, an influential player on the Ukrainian stock market, and a courageous mountain climber – these are the things one can say about Kyrylo Shevchenko. He made an outstanding career in the area of banking, moving gradually towards becoming one of the most prominent bankers in Ukraine as well as an all-round successful person.

Early life. Kyrylo Shevchenko was born on October 25, 1972, in the Russian city of Tula in the family of a journalist and a miner. Due to certain circumstances, his family had to change the scenery and move from the forested Tula to the vast prairies of Eastern Ukraine, particularly Stakhanov, a town in the Luhansk region. This is the town where Kyrylo Shevchenko completed his secondary education and got his first work experience at the Illich mine.

Education. He worked at the mine, which is one of the first mines that appeared in Ukraine, for a two-year period , after which he decided to obtain an additional education at The Kharkiv Institute of Engineering and Economics (present-day Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics). It is one of the most renowned/famous educational institutions not only in Ukraine but also in Eastern Europe. It was founded in the 1983, and since that time it became known as the alma mater for many prominent engineers who successfully apply mathematical methods to the economic realities.

Kyrylo Shevchenko studied at this University from 1989 to 1994. He obtained a degree in accounting and (analysis of economic activities)/ finance.

Work in the banking sector of Ukraine. Being an immensely talented graduate, Kyrylo Shevchenko was on the radar of all major employers in the country. Such reputation yielded him the first job at the Kharkiv-based branch of the Ukrainian Credit Bank. It took him only a year to reach the position of the senior specialist, though he began his career there as a staff economist.

The local branch of Raiffeisen Bank Aval became the next place of work for Mr. Shevchenko. He started to work there in 1995. Shortly after that transfer, he had to change the office again because he got the lucrative offer from the capital-based bank, the Finance and Credit Bank. This financial institution was taking its first steps in the Ukrainian banking sector, so it would be appropriate to say/mention that Kyrylo Shevchenko stood at the origins of Ukrainian banking sector. He has devoted 11 years of his life to the Bank Finance and Credit and made his way from the division manager to the first deputy Chairman of the Management Board/CEO. He left the bank in 2006, and at that time it was among 10 best financial institutions in the country. The National Bank of Ukraine ranked it as one of the leaders by assets /in asset value.

2006 became the most important year in Kyrylo Shevchenko's career because at that period of time he acquired the position of the Head of the State Mortgage Institution (SMI) of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. This institution was established in 2004 by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. It had to deal with refunding mortgage loans by utilizing monetary funds raised from openly selling its bonds to investors in Ukraine. Under Kyrylo Shevchenko's supervision, the SMI issued the government-guaranteed bonds. It was an unprecedented event in the history of the stock market of this country. Mr. Shevchenko also had a brief encounter with the world of politics when he served as a staff adviser to the then-Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Timoshenko.

In 2010, Kyrylo Shevchenko and his business associates acquired Terra Bank, a small financial entity in Kyiv with rather insignificant indicators. Over the course of two years, they took this bank to the 45th position in the rating of the most accomplished credit and financial organizations of Ukraine in terms of proliferation of assets and improvement in profitability.

Kyrylo Shevchenko was also employed as the adviser to the Chairman of the Management Board of the State Savings Bank of Ukraine, one of the major banks in the country. He left this position in October 2014.

Work at Ukrgasbank. In 2009, Kyrylo Shevchenko joined Ukrgasbank as one of the Supervisory board members and retained this position until 2010. In 2014 he obtained the post of the first deputy Chairman of the Management Board/CEO at Ukrgasbank. In 2015, after beating the competition, he was promoted to theCchairman of the Management Board/CEO.

Private Life. Kyrylo Shevchenko has a wife and a 17-year-old daughter.

Pastime. Despite the fact that Kyrylo Shevchenko is rather conservative and prudent in his work, he tends to devote his pastime to the very active if not extreme sports. Since 2011, he has been devoting a good deal of his time to mountain climbing, a sport for people with the iron will and a strong physique. The biggest mountains of the world are where Shevchenko's belief that “the fortitude is determined along the road” lives up to its meaning. Kyrylo Shevchenko has under his belt the ascents of the mountains Kilimanjaro, Ararat and Kazbek, tracks in the Himalayas and in the near the Annapurna I, one of the most notorious eight-thousanders on the planet. Kyrylo Shevchenko has also climbed on the highest peak in Europe which is Elbrus. Mr. Shevchenko does not even think of resting on his oars. Once he finds time in his busy work schedule, he will definitely conquer yet another mountain. As for his other hobbies, Mr. Shevchenko is very fond of kiteboarding.