On January 28, 2015, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Valeriia Gontareva had a meeting with Mr. Jacob J. Lew, U.S. Secretary of Treasury.
During the meeting, the sides discussed Ukraine's macroeconomic indicators and the prospects for stabilizing the situation in Ukraine. "Despite pessimistic forecasts, we hope that the conflict in eastern Ukraine will be resolved, the situation will get back on track and the economy will stabilize," said Valeriia Gontareva and unveiled the NBU's ambitious initiatives to reform the banking sector and restore Ukraine's financial system stability.
In addition, the interlocutors discussed further financial cooperation between the two countries and the allocation of additional financial support to Ukraine in an amount of USD 2 billion. In her turn, Valeriia Gontareva thanked the USA for loan guarantees provided to Ukraine and the support offered by the United States of America in devising a new program supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (Extended Fund Facility – EFF).
At the same time, the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine informed the U.S. Secretary of Treasury on the progress in tackling corruption (which, unfortunately, was the case with a hierarchical structure) both in the central bank and the banking sector as a whole. She emphasized that the regulator is set to purge the system from the oligarchical schemes of running business in commercial banks. "We plan to create conditions which would prevent the return of these schemes," said Valeriia Gontareva, emphasizing the NBU's commitment to reforms which would pave the way for putting the Ukrainian banking system the on the path toward sustainable development.
However, the implementation of a reform package, in particular, efforts to amend the Laws of Ukraine On the National Bank of Ukraine, Banks and Banking, as well as the Civil and Criminal Codes of Ukraine, are crucial for finalizing the already launched process of purging the banking system.
U.S. Secretary of Treasury Jacob J. Lew expressed his hope for the success of reforms currently implemented by the National Bank of Ukraine.
As a side note, in accordance with a Declaration of Intent on cooperation on providing credit guarantees signed by Ukraine and the U.S., which is contingent on Ukraine remaining on track with reforms, the U.S. government pledges to provide USD 1 billion in loan guarantees for Ukraine in the first half of 2015. Another USD 1 billion could be provided, if Ukraine remains on track with reforms in the future. In 2014, Ukraine had already obtained USD 1 billion in loan guarantees and USD 340 million in financial assistance.