FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivers a speech during the Yalta European Strategy (YES) annual meeting in Kiev, Ukraine September 13, 2019. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS
September 17, 2019
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wanted to reach a settlement with the former owner of the country’s largest bank, PrivatBank, the Financial Times newspaper quoted Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk as saying.
“I’m completely convinced that we need to concentrate on growth now and look for joint solutions instead of spending our resources on destroying each other,” he said in an interview.
“So I am very positive about any rhetoric directed toward searching for a compromise.”
Honcharuk’s comments followed a statement by the former owner of PrivatBank, Ihor Kolomoisky, on Friday, saying there was room for an amicable solution now that Zelenskiy was president.
PrivatBank was nationalized against Kolomoisky’s wishes in December 2016 and its fortunes are closely watched by investors, because the International Monetary Fund may freeze aid to Ukraine if the nationalization were to be reversed.
The statements by Kolomoisky and Honcharuk come as an IMF mission is in town to discuss a new aid-for-reforms deal with Honcharuk’s government, which took charge following a snap July election.
Honcharuk and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Louise Heavens)
