President demands that central bank, securities crack down on banks speculating with currency

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is calling on the National Bank and the Security Service of Ukraine for tough treatment of banks engaged in speculations on currency market.

He made this call during his meeting with Central Bank Governor Volodymyr Stelmakh and Securities Chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko at the Boryspil airport.

"The National Bank and the Security Service must react immediately. You must show that the treatment of those scavengers will be merciless. Those are criminals threatening the hryvnia," the President said.

Yushchenko says banks caught in currency speculations must undergo sanctions from restriction of transactions to withdrawal of licenses.

The President proposed that the NBU call an extended meeting with those banks on June 2.

On May 29, Nalyvaichenko told Yushchenko that six Ukrainian banks were engaged in the activity of a powerful conversion center with a monthly turnover of about USD 30 million.

In March, the security service audited on Yushchenko's order 25 banks suspected of currency speculations on the interbank forex market.

UKRINFORM