As the 2020 presidential campaign picks up steam, discussion and debate about Hunter Biden, Rudolph W. Giuliani and President Trump have dominated the print and television media. Avid consumers of news can be forgiven for thinking that nothing more important is happening on the Ukraine front these days.
But they would be wrong.
The biggest scandal inside Ukraine — perhaps one of the most consequential in all of Eastern Europe — is a row between a courageous former central banker and a notorious oligarch. It is a high-stakes battle, with a clear cast of good and bad guys.
Last week, the International Monetary Fund halted assistance negotiations with Kyiv over genuine concerns about corruption in Ukraine’s economy, specifically related to the status of PrivatBank. PrivatBank, long Ukraine’s largest commercial bank, was nationalized in 2016 with the vigorous support from the IMF because the bank’s management, led by oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky, was credibly accused of looting it of billions of dollars.
According to an independent report, PrivatBank was beset by self-dealing, theft, money laundering and other malfeasance. Valeria Gontareva, then director of Ukraine’s central bank, made eliminating corruption in the banking sector one of her top priorities. She went on to close more than 80 banks during her three-year tenure. Her crowning achievement was wresting control of Privat Bank from its owners.
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