Ukrainian bankers do not have much money, and this is why people wonder why President Kuchma met with some of them on June 15.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the President told the bankers he will soon sign a number of important decrees on tax and budget policy. He said he would do that “in connection with the situation in Parliament surrounding the election of its leadership.” In this connection it cannot be understood whether the President wants simply to violate the Constitution by stepping into the legislative realm, which can be governed only by laws passed by Verkhovna Rada, or he is also planning to raise additional funds to solve the crisis in the Parliament and elect the leadership he wants.
Some of the striking miners have already urged the President to take from bankers the money needed to pay off wage arrears.
Ukrainian Banks Association President Oleksandr Suhuniako explained to The Day that the meeting was about Ukrainian banks staying in the stock market. And while Kuchma cannot influence nonresidents to do so, with his own people he can, promising, say, tax cuts during the chaos in Parliament.
Experts believe that the IMF and World Bank missions in Kyiv, which have issued very strict demands to Ukraine, stimulated Kuchma to do this. If the Ukrainian financial market turns out to be unstable during their work, Ukraine will not see any more loans. Even political motives cannot force foreign banks to empty their pockets.






