 From January 2000 to January 2003 Stelmakh served his first turn as Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) According to Stelmakh, one of the main initiators of his resignation was the then Prime Minister of Ukraine Anatoliy Kinakh who wanted to cover the lack of revenue to the State budget-2002 by printing more money.As head of the NBU he stated he was categorically against such a step, because it was fraught with a jump in inflation.On December 16, 2004 Stelmakh was again appointed the Governor of the NBU

During the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election Stelmakh was placed number 28 on the electionlist of Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc.