KYIV, March 30 – The National Bank on Friday flatly denied charges against its arrested former deputy chief, whom prosecutors accuse of causing large financial losses to the state.
Volodymyr Bondar was arrested March 19, and prosecutors charged him with making a deal he knew was unprofitable to deposit $75 million in Ukrainian hard currency reserves at the Cyprus-registered affiliate of Credit Suisse First Boston bank in 1997. The deal allegedly resulted in the loss of $5 million for Ukraine.
In a statement Friday, the National Bank said the deposit «fully corresponded with current law» and was profitable, with Ukraine receiving back the equivalent of $80 million in securities.
«This means that the whole sum of deposit and a profit of $5 million were returned to Ukraine,» the bank said.
The bank said the off-shore deposit was prompted by the need to stop panic buying of foreign currency in Ukraine at the time, and to stabilize the situation on the credit market.
The case against Bondar has assumed political overtones, as it casts a shadow on the reputation of popular Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, who was chief of the central bank at the time of the deal. Yushchenko has said he is convinced of Bondar’s innocence, and investigators have quoted Bondar as saying Yushchenko was not aware of the deal.
Prosecutors said Thursday they also plan to charge Bondar with depositing $15 million in the Zurich branch of Credit Suisse First Boston in 1997, a deposit that allegedly was never returned.
