Collapse of the banking system in Ukraine began when the dollar officially began to sell at Hr 2.50, considers People’s Deputy Kolomoitsev. Dealers on the Ukrainian Interbank Currency Exchange, where bids will start at this point were not very optimistic about the IMF decision to grant Ukraine the EFF loan of $2.2 billion, because they think that neither the first installment nor the whole loan will be able to revive the currency market. In other words, the new dimensions of the currency corridor at Hr 2.50-3.50 per dollar may be just the beginning.
The tense calmness of high officials shows indications of self-justification in the face of increasing distrust among both population and bankers. Moreover, the conditions in the IMF memorandum have not yet been made public. NBU head Viktor Yushchenko declared, “the NBU has agreed with the IMF on its tactics for working on the currency market, including its strategy for using currency reserves. Unfortunately, I cannot make public the figures, because they may be used with negative meaning in some comments,” in other words, causing panic.
No one believes the NBU promise to provide maximum coverage of the dollar demand through the Ukrainian Interbank Currency Exchange, because they all remember Yushchenko’s recent statement on the pointlessness of further propping up the hryvnia by selling NBU currency reserves. According to the latest NBU estimates, these reserves had dropped below $800 million last weekend (it was $2.3 billion at the beginning of the year). In addition, all attempts failed to have NBU comment on $200 million in reserves, which vanished from an account in some Dutch bank. The phones were switched to fax mode and all other experts were constantly having lunch.
The authorities also keep silent over another “positive” development. Last month domestic debt to budget organizations and miners totaled $1.77 billion (Hr 900 million and Hr 2.3 billion respectively). Today this sum has fallen to $1.28 billion, due to the new currency corridor baseline of Hr 2.50 per dollar. No one has spoken about compensation yet, so it is possible that non-payment of Hr 1.225 billion (the accounting was done yesterday) at the state level will be an announced budget saving. Moreover, those at the helm take no blame and declare through Serhiy Tyhypko, “The fact that Ukraine is suffering a deep economic crisis is not the result of our actions. It only shows that we have been tardy in launching our programs and that our measures were not radical enough.”
Incidentally, Central Bank of Russia Chairman Sergey Dubinin has made public his intention to retire.






