Forex rate artificially fixed at UAH 8/US$ amid Yanukovych's presidency exhausted gold reserves

Former banker Roman Sulzhyk says the fact that the forex rate was artificially kept at UAH 8 per U.S. dollar during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency and Mykola Azarov's premiership reduced Ukraine's gold and foreign currency reserves significantly.

Read alsoYanukovych defense submit to court text of his "appeal" to Putin"All these reserves were spent to prop up the hryvnia rate at UAH 8 to the dollar. In fact, the hryvnia rate should have increased gradually, so that it was balanced and the reserves were not spent. Instead, it was artificially kept at UAH 8/U.S. dollar," he told a TV panel show on 1+1 Channel on April 13, the Ukrainian TSN news service reports.

Sulzhyk noted that during Yanukovych's presidency, Ukraine's external debt rose from $100 billion to $140 billion. When he came to power, Ukraine's gold and foreign currency reserves were estimated at about $35 billion, whereas they shrank to $20 billion after his presidency.

According to the ex-banker, the fair rate of the dollar should now be UAH 23/24 per U.S. dollar. Sulzhyk considers the debate on monetary liberalization in the government, parliament and the National Bank a positive factor. In particular, he mentioned the law on currency liberalization introduced by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

"Those are the things that will allow us to integrate Ukraine into the global financial system," he said.