Ukraine’s new government revealed corrupt money laundering schemes which were concealed by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), tax authorities, and other state bodies, who received 8% of the total volume in fees.
The NBU concealed the money laundering schemes using the foreign exchange (FX) market, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said in a meeting with Ukrainian businessmen, according to LigaBusinessInform.
“We now know the mechanisms of the money laundering scheme on the foreign exchange market. At this time, I have information from the law enforcement and state foreign exchange monitoring agencies. The money laundering schemes were built and covered up by the NBU, tax authorities, and the Ministry of Revenues. They took 8% of the volume as payment for their services. These proceeds went into the shadow economy and were serviced there. We know the sources of these schemes. Primarily, it was money from the state budget that was transferred to accounts which our foreign partners are now tracking in an attempt to seize the assets of the former authorities. We are going to destroy these money laundering schemes,” Yatsenyuk said.
The prime minister called on the FX market to calm down. He said that on March 3, the market did not open well. “You all know the interbank currency rates. They opened at 10.4 [UAH to USD], then jumped to 11.1. The average rate is 10.2-10.4. The market is very constricted. I am calling on the market to calm down. It is normal when the TV shows the Russian soldiers and tanks–it is the natural reaction of any person who has bank deposits, or any businessman with outstanding contracts, to buy foreign currency.”
Today’s dollar trading at the interbank exchange opened at 9.6/10.11 UAH to USD, and by midday had risen to 10.2/11.1 UAH to USD. By 3:00 p.m., the rate had declined to 9.7/10.5 UAH to USD.
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Translated by Shara Anatoliy, edited by Mariana Budjeryn and Robin Rohrback
