Ukraine leaders don’t trust local currency, banks, e-declarations reveal

Most of Ukraine’s top officials keep their savings in foreign currency, as well as large portions in cash, as can be seen from the electronic declarations of assets and income they submitted last week as part of a mandatory system that has been implemented in line with IMF requirements. In particular, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman holds only 6% of his USD 2.04 mln in savings in bank accounts and only 13% in the local currency. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko kept almost all of his USD 26.6 mln in total savings in foreign currency but mostly in accounts at his own banks. Valeria Gontareva, the head of Ukraine’s central bank, kept her USD 1.88 mln in savings in banks accounts, but only 3% in the local currency. The deputy head of the central bank responsible for bank supervision, Kateryna Rozhkova, kept only 2% of her USD 0.39 mln in savings in bank accounts and only 1% in the local currency.

Among the most cynical cash declarations came from MP Serhiy Melnychuk, who alleged UAH 1,000 bln in cash savings (USD 41.7 bln), exceeding the total circulation of hryvnias by more than three times. The declarations of 90% of MPs revealed UAH 9.2 bln in savings (about USD 380 mln), of which UAH 6.7 bln were kept as cash, according to Concorde Capital calculations.

Zenon Zawada: The lack of trust that top state officials have in the nation’s banking system merely confirms just how much progress lies ahead of Ukraine in integrating with the Western world. It’s a positive step that they were forced to reveal even a small portion of their finances by Western institutions because only when a problem is identified can work begin to solve it. However, it was obvious that most of these officials revealed only a tiny fraction of their income and assets, which indicates that the struggle for reform and reducing corruption is only beginning.