By Tim Ash

LONDON -- Not sure I would be so confident in the line that President Poroshenko intends to tap Volodomyr Lavrenchuk to replace Valeriya Gontareva for head of the central bank. September is a long way off. The NBU head position could provide useful leverage with the IMF as debate kicks off over land and pension reform, and also the anti graft agenda. Let's see.

Valeriya Gontareva, here in January in Davos with President Poroshenko and Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, was a well known figure after three years at the helm of the National Bank of Ukraine. (UNIAN/ Mikhail Palinchak)

Ukraine’s Gontareva Departs With No Replacement Approved

By Daryna Krasnolutska
(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian central bank Governor Valeriya
Gontareva has left her role on compulsory leave, pending a
decision by parliament on her resignation.
Yakiv Smoliy, Gontareva’s first deputy, will take over as
acting governor starting May 11, the bank said Wednesday on
Facebook. President Petro Poroshenko plans to tap Volodymyr
Lavrenchuk, head of Raiffeisen Bank Aval JSC, to replace her on
a permanent basis, according to two people familiar with the
matter.

Gontareva, one of Ukraine’s most respected reformers,
helped transform the former Soviet economy after a second pro-
European revolution in 10 years, stabilizing a plunging hryvnia,
taming inflation and maintaining a $17.5 billion International
Monetary Fund bailout. Her departure on compulsory leave a month
after submitting her resignation adds to pressure on Poroshenko
to propose a replacement. He’s so far not officially commented
on her exit, while Lavrenchuk has said in the past that he’d be
open to the job.

“The IMF and other international creditors definitely
wouldn’t want to see a surprise and a drastic change in the
bank’s policy and operations,” said Alexander Valchyshen, head
of research at Investment Capital Ukraine. But with
disagreements among domestic political factions over the bank’s
future tack, the replacement requires compromise and will “take
a while,” he said.

Gontareva tendered her resignation complaining law
enforcement wasn’t backing her crackdown on failed banks. She’d
become unpopular among some Ukrainians who lost savings.
Parliament, which must approve the new governor, returns
from a one-month break next week. Poroshenko hasn’t held
consultations with lawmakers yet on a candidate, Iryna Lutsenko,
who represents the president in parliament, said Tuesday
televised comments.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Daryna Krasnolutska in Kiev at dkrasnolutsk@bloomberg.net