Expert: Ukraine should implement IMF recommendations on open competition for the position of the head of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, financial assistance will depend on it
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine should implement the IMF's recommendations regarding an open competition for the position of the head of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, as this will determine the financial assistance, the expert believes.
Ukraine should implement the International Monetary Fund's recommendations to hold an open competition for the position of managing director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund. This, among other things, will determine the receipt of foreign funding in the future. This opinion was expressed by Andriy Novak, Chairman of the Committee of Economists of Ukraine, in an exclusive commentary to UNN.
Context
Earlier it became known that the Administrative Board of the Deposit Guarantee Fund dismissed Svitlana Rekrut from the position of Managing Director of the DGF due to the expiration of her 5-year contract. Currently, Olga Bilay, Rekrut's deputy, is acting as managing director. According to media reports, the Fund's administrative board plans to appoint a new manager in a closed mode. Among the candidates are Bilyi and Pavlo Polarush, head of the National Bank's Department for Work with Troubled Assets.
In an interview, Rekrut said that the IMF requires Ukraine to amend its legislation to hold an open competition for the position of the head of the DGF. Currently, there is no such procedure in the law. According to her, Kyiv has committed itself to developing and approving such a procedure in the spring of 2025. It is possible that Bilyi may remain acting managing director of the DGF until an open competition for this position is held, because what is the point of appointing a new manager for six months?
"If the IMF demands an open competition for this position, the Ukrainian authorities should not only listen to it, but do so. Because if Ukraine continues to take steps step by step contrary to the recommendations of our partners, from whom we are constantly receiving various kinds of assistance, from military to financial, then at some point the question of providing this assistance or reducing it will simply arise," Novak said.
He added that international partners associate domestic politics in Ukraine with corruption, and they believe that we are "a deeply corrupt country." Therefore, according to Novak, when it comes to appointing officials, we should not go against the recommendations of international partners, especially the IMF, on whose assistance we will be dependent for at least several more years.
Add
Earlier, journalists found out that one of the candidates for the position of managing director of the DGF, Pavlo Polarush, has repeatedly traveled abroad since the start of the large-scale invasion. In particular, according to media reports, in November 2022, he received permission to leave the country from the odious former Deputy Minister of Defense, who is currently a suspect in corruption crimes. The permit was allegedly issued to Polarush to travel abroad in an elite Lexus car to receive humanitarian aid. However, it is not yet known on what grounds Polarush traveled abroad from February to November 2022.
Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Mykola Velychkovych believes that law enforcement should investigate Polarush's travels abroad. And a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense, Hennadiy Kasai, does not rule out that Polarush may have problems during the special vetting process as a candidate for the position of managing director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund.
