WARSAW, Poland – A first of its kind, high level study tour of Poland’s credit union system for Ukrainian government and parliamentarian representatives was organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID’s) Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project here, with implementation by the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) in partnership with the National Association of Cooperative Savings and Credit Unions (NACSCU) and the Foundation for Cooperative Education (FCE).
The Ukrainian delegation learned from Polish experience in credit union market regulation in the context of Poland’s legal and regulatory environment, according to the World Council.
WOCCU said NACSCU and Polish legislators are providing guidance on how credit union systems, as evidenced by Polish credit unions, can be successful in a European Union legislative regulatory framework, marking a step forward in efforts to bring Ukraine closer to its European neighbors. Poland, once a recipient of assistance, now serves as a model for other credit union systems in Eastern Europe and partners with World Council in delivering technical assistance to credit unions in Ukraine.
“Just as Poland introduced credit unions as vehicles for economic democracy in a time of opening political democracy, our Polish colleagues now support Ukrainian credit unions as channels for grassroots economic democracy in Ukraine,” said Brian Branch, World Council president and CEO.
During the visit, the Ukrainian delegation learned about the consolidation and merger of credit unions in Poland under the new legal capitalization requirements through the Polish credit union law of 2009.
“They examined the supervision and regulation of the credit union market by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and Ministry of Finance and discussed lessons learned from over 25 years in the credit union movement in Poland,” WOCCU said. “These lessons can be applied to reforming Ukraine’s credit union sector, particularly in the area of legislative reform, as Ukraine reviews a new draft law on credit unions this fall and determines whether to allow Ukrainian credit unions to access the state Deposit Guarantee Fund.”
Declarations of support by all parties encouraged a continuation of the exchange between the Ukrainian and Polish representatives, under the umbrella of the USAID CAP Project. CAP is a four-year project (2016-2020) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by World Council with oversight and technical assistance from the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA).
WOCCU reported the Ukrainian delegation was comprised of nine high ranking officials including the Ukrainian Regulator, Members of Parliament (the Chairs of the Non-Banking Financial Institutions and Protection of Consumer Rights), representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Finance, presidents of the All Ukrainian Credit Union Association (AUCUA) and the Ukrainian National Association of Savings and Credit Unions (UNASCU) and the CAP Project’s key partners.
They were received by their Polish counterparts, consisting of the President of the State Banking Guarantee Fund, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Finance, the Polish Regulator, Vice Presidents of the National Bank of Poland, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Senator and Chair of the Public Finance Committee of the Senate and Members of Polish Parliament.