OREANDA-NEWS. January 21, 2009. The National Bank of Ukraine pursues a senseless currency policy and lobbies interests of one bank, the Nadra bank. Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko announced to a media conference today. “The NBU policy is directed to the course of hryvnya to destabilize it and afford to tumble down,” Yulia Tymoshenko emphasized.

The Prime Minister noted, the National Bank of Ukraine again approved a decision on allocation of UAH 3 billion to the Nadra bank which belongs to a co-owner of RosUkrEnergo company Dmytro Firtash: “I want to ask where is the limit to corruption, abuse, lobbyism, where is the limit to disregard of any rules and norms of behaviour?” Yulia Tymoshenko added over the recent 3 months of 2008 the Nadra bank had obtained from the NBU a special financial aid for refinancing to the tune of UAH 7 bn.

“There is a recent decision of the NBU to earmark UAH 3 bn to the only bank. There is no another such bank in Ukraine, being constantly refinanced or financially supported. In fact, RosUkrEnergo is replaced today with the Nadra bank,” the head of Government explained.

Yulia Tymoshenko told such actions of the National Bank lead to disbalance of the currency market, which, in its turn, entails tragic fallouts for Ukraine’s economy. In particular, small and average businesses have no opportunity to return foreign currency credits, the banking system is forced to pay twice more funds to pay off credit loans in foreign currency, the hryvnya course leads to radical inflation processes as all import coming to Ukraine increases twofold in price, incomes of citizens are devaluated.

Moreover, the Head of Government stressed nowadays the credit rates for Ukrainian economy still remain the highest in the world. “At a time when national banks of all the countries have cut their bank-rates to practically minimal showings, the National Bank is following a policy which forms the rates of credits, interest credit rates at over 30%,” Yulia Tymoshenko underlined.

In connection with all the abovementioned the Government has addressed the President of Ukraine with a demand to dismiss the Head of the National Bank of Ukraine which will enable to cease illegal actions of the NBU, that pose a threat to the national economy.