Reaction swift and harsh after Ukraine’s central bank governor quits due to ‘political pressure’

Yakiv Smolii, the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, has resigned due to “systematic political pressure” — pressure that some believe came directly from President Volodymyr Zelensky and quite possibly billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who has been trying to regain ownership of PrivatBank after he stuck taxpayers with a $5.5 billion bailout after a raft of allegedly insider lending when he owned Ukraine’s largest bank.

Smolii submitted his letter of resignation to Zelensky on July 1, saying that he can no longer “fulfill my obligations to manage the activities of the National Bank and its cooperation with other state agencies,” the central bank announced on its website.