Questions Surround Ukraine’s Bailouts as Banking Chief Steps Down
Ms. Gontareva said she was planning to take some time off
and re-enter the private sector — she previously worked for a brokerage firm in Ukraine — adding that she hoped never to be a bureaucrat again.
But at least $1.8 billion of that money quickly vanished into bad loans, according to the Anti-Corruption Action Center, an independent organization tracking fraud in Ukraine
that is financed in part by United States government grants.
The government in December spent $5.6 billion on a recapitalization of PrivatBank, which is owned by Ihor V. Kolomoisky — the pro-Kiev commander of a battle-hardened militia
and the governor of a crucial region that is on the front line of the Russian conflict.
But the hefty cost to Ukrainian taxpayers and Western donors, including the United States, was most likely too high
because the failing banks — most disastrously PrivatBank — were refinanced shortly before they collapsed.
Ms. Gontareva has protested her innocence and said bank closings during her tenure had in fact put an end to refinancing fraud in Ukraine.
The eventual loss from PrivatBank, Ms. Kaleniuk said, should have been obvious to the central bank before it cost donors and taxpayers billions.