10 April 2017 - The Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine has announced her resignation, effective from 10 May 2017, after nearly three years in the post. She made the announcement during a press conference.
"As promised, I am giving proper notice of my resignation – communicating it a month in advance," Valeria Gontareva stated.
In line with the Ukrainian law "On the National Bank of Ukraine", the Governor of the National Bank is relieved of her post by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine upon representation from the President of Ukraine, so Valeria Gontareva will continue in her post until the parliamentary decision.
The Governor of the National Bank noted that there were no further changes to the Board planned for the present moment.
“There will also be no changes to central bank policy. Consistency upon the selected path is key to the success of our country and the support of our international partners. The National Bank will continue with the consistent realisation of the policy you have seen during my tenure as Governor of NBU,” she commented.
During her nearly three years in office, the National Bank headed by Valeria Gontareva has succeeded in stabilising the macroeconomic situation, fundamentally transforming the banking sector landscape and building a modern central bank despite war and political instability, deep economic crisis and empty government treasury.
“My mission is complete. First, the country has moved to a flexible exchange rate and implemented the new monetary policy of inflation targeting. Secondly, the banking system has been cleansed of insolvent banks, and its future resilience strengthened. Thirdly, the National Bank has been completely transformed, all the processes have been reset and today our central bank is a strong modern organisation,” Valeria Gontareva concluded.
Commenting on her vision of the future, Valeria Gontareva highlighted that today resistance to changes is getting stronger at all levels but it is essential to continue what has been started and defend the independence of the National Bank, which has been achieved through the amendments to the Law "On the National Bank of Ukraine" in 2015.
“I am certain that for the whole of the financial system, for its future growth, consistency is very important, as is the preservation of central bank policy. The National Bank is outside politics. This is the norm and the standard for all developed nations, which is what Ukraine aspires to. The central bank must remain independent,” she said.
The Governor of the National Bank underlined once again the importance that the Governor of the central bank that is appointed be a true professional, a banker and a technocrat, not a politician.
“This is my vision and I have already proposed several candidates for my potential successor to President Poroshenko”, Valeria Gontareva commented, noting that she was certain that the right candidate would take charge at the central bank.
At the end of her speech Valeria Gontareva highlighted: “I know that if all government institutions conducted their reforms in the same way as the National Bank, our country would be at a very different qualitative level in its development today.”
Valeria Gontareva was appointed to the position of Governor of the National Bank on 19 June 2014.
She also holds the position of the International Monetary Fund Governor for Ukraine, Chairman of Supervisory Board of the German-Ukrainian fund and Chairperson of the Board of the Corporate Non-State Pension Fund of the National Bank of Ukraine.
She has over 20 years of experience in top Ukrainian and international financial institutions.
Prior to becoming head of the National Bank of Ukraine, she was head of the Investment Capital Ukraine Asset Management Company LLC.