Chairwomen of the National Bank of Ukrain: The former owners of PrivatBank could face criminal charges
The Chairwomen of the National Bank of Ukraine, Valeriya Hontaryeva, stated in an interview with Reuters that the former owners of PrivatBank could face criminal charges if auditors reveal that they intentionally brought the financial institution to bankruptcy.
According to her, the National Bank of Ukraine hired the international audit and consulting firm, Ernst & Young to conduct an audit of PrivatBank. Ernst & Young will verify the solvency of companies that received loans from the former bank of Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Gennadiy Bogolyubov. These companies were granted 5-10 years to repay their debts.
Should the audit show the insolvency of the specified companies and the connection of these companies to PrivatBank is proven, there will be reason to believe that the former owners brought the bank to bankruptcy by providing loans to these companies. Hontaryeva noted that Ukrainian legislation provides for criminal liability for causing the insolvency of banking institutions.
The Minister of Finance of Ukraine, Oleksandr Danylyuk, previously stated that Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Gennadiy Bogolyubov may face criminal responsibility.