The former head of Ukrainian National Bank claims she fears assassination

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 18 Sep 2019 by Alex Teddy

The woman who nationalized PrivatBank has had her house in Kyiv burnt down in an arson attack on September 18. The woman is named Valeria Gontareva and she said she believes her house burning down was revenge for the bank's nationalization. Although we note the issue has been heavily politicized on both sides. She has since moved to London, and given legal ramifications around the privatization she appears set not to return to Ukraine. Last month she was hit by a car in what she says may have been an attempt to kill her. Valeria Gontareva has received death threats.The former owner of PrivatBank is Ihor Kolomoisky. Kolomoisky is widely seen as a financial backer of the President of the Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Kolomoisky was in exile for a few years. He has since returned to Ukraine and is using the courts to try to get PrivatBank back. Kolomoisky has denied being behind any campaign of death threats against Gontareva. Gontareva was head of the Ukrainian National Bank in 2016 when the decision to nationalize PrivatBank was made. PrivatBank had received USD 5 billion of public funds. Investigators discovered that the bank had issued many large scale unwise loans. The bank was so large that the government said that it could not allow the bank to collapse.Gontareva also worked as chairman of Ukrainian fund ICU, itself known for helping finance deals related to former President Petro Poroshenko.

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