Who will be appointed to lead the National Bank?

The news that broke out early on February 27 may be welcome for some people, but it is probably scary for most of the nation’s active population. According to sources of the Ekonomichna Pravda (EP) website, chairperson of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Valeria Hontarieva may leave the office as soon as this week. Sources say that she wants to resign of her own accord, but President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is not ready to let her go yet because he lacks a viable replacement. According to EP, the presidential administration started active search for a new chief banker of the nation past week. Also, Hontarieva is supposed to announce her resignation on Thursday, March 2. “There is no question of her staying. However, if there is still no viable candidate for the position by then, the decision may be postponed,” EP’s source said, backtracking on their earlier statements somewhat.

Of course, the press service of the NBU has refused to confirm this information, but it has been doing it somewhat awkwardly. “As you know, the NBU usually announces the upcoming changes in the board membership a month in advance. No such announcement has been made lately, and therefore this report is not true. Currently, all board members are working as planned and on a tight schedule,” the press service posted on Facebook.

It should be noted that this is not Hontarieva’s first attempt to resign from the office of the National Bank’s chairperson, reminded us the UNIAN news agency, which is likely to still have communication channels open to former owner of nationalized PrivatBank Ihor Kolomoiskyi. The agency says that despite the demands of the parliamentary opposition, repeated protests staged by depositors of failed banks and troubled borrowers, and conflicts with bank owners, President Poroshenko did not dare to ask the legislature to dismiss Hontarieva. This time, most likely, the head of state will grant the chief banking regulator’s request, the agency believes.

Meanwhile, according to unofficial information obtained by The Day from a reliable source, there are many people in the entourage of the President of Ukraine, including businesspeople, who are dissatisfied with Hontarieva. They asked him to get her dismissed as early as past year. The gravest charge is that the banking sector does not lend to the economy. However, Hontarieva felt secure and able to almost blackmail her opponents: “If you dismiss me, you will not receive the next tranche of the IMF assistance.” Now, the loan has failed to materialize anyway, and it is unknown when the aid will be disbursed, because the new US president has not yet determined where he stands on Ukraine. Therefore, the opinion that Hontarieva is not critically needed anymore is winning in the presidential entourage. Moreover, after the nationalization of PrivatBank, the President of Ukraine controls 60 percent of the banking system, and in this respect, too, not all is well. Therefore, dismissal of the NBU chief has been put on the agenda for real. On the other hand, some former top managers of the NBU, like Oleksandr Pysaruk and Serhii Roshkovan, are already working for the IMF. According to unofficial information regarding Hontarieva, there is a job there for her as well, and she does not object to it. Under these conditions, the resignation becomes acceptable to all parties, including the IMF, which will obtain a highly qualified employee.