KYIV – On March 30 and 31, the Ukrainian Parliament finally delivered on two crucial issues set as preconditions by the International Monetary Fund in order for the country to receive financial support of up to $8 billion to help offset the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating impact on Ukraine’s fragile economy.
The first involved the adoption in its first reading of the so-called “banking” or “anti-Kolomoisky” bill named after the notorious billionaire oligarch who wants to recover Ukraine’s largest bank, PrivatBank. It was nationalized in 2016 after he allegedly embezzled $5.5 billion from it. The new legislation has been designed to ensure that Mr. Kolomoisky and others who bankrupted banks won’t have them returned or receive compensation at the taxpayers’ expense.