The former head of the National Bank, Valery Gontareva, denies any involvement in the «coal business». This is stated in her commentary on the testimony of Viktor Medvedchuk, which the Security Service of Ukraine published the day before.
«I listened to this pamphlet by the SBU-Medvedchuk. Even Medvedchuk says there that the NBU did not take part either in the pipeline or in the payments for coal. Moreover, he even says that the NBU banned all settlements in uncontrolled territories», Gontareva said.
She assured that the National Bank at the time Medvedchuk is talking about did not receive no special tasks and worked on the system of payment of pensions, salaries and settlements for businesses in the uncontrolled territories exclusively within the framework of the adopted law on Crimea and Donbass.
At the same time, the former chairman of the NBU drew attention to the fact that the SBU, together with Medvedchuk, for some reason, devoted a significant part of their video to her.
Given this, Gontareva recalled that Igor Surkis had already filed a lawsuit against her in London, accusing her of colluding with President Petro Poroshenko during the nationalization of PrivatBank, but this ended in a complete defeat for the plaintiff.
«So I would recommend the SBU not to follow the lead of Mr. Kolomoisky and not try to speak black and white, but to deal with the pressing problems of Ukraine, which is in a bloody war mode», — said the ex-chairman of the NBU.
HELP. In April 2022, the SBU detained Medvedchuk after escaping from house arrest. He is suspected of treason, assistance to the activities of a terrorist organization and an attempt to plunder national resources in the occupied Crimea. One of the cases concerns the organization of illegal schemes for the supply of coal from the temporarily occupied territories. Another thing is the illegal possession of LLC «PrikarpatZapadTrans» section of the state oil pipeline for more than UAH 200 million. In February 2021, the National Security and Defense Council returned the pipeline to state ownership.
- On May 23, it became known that Medvedchuk testified against Poroshenko. He stated that the fifth president «was responsible for the purchase of coal from the temporarily occupied territories in 2014-2015», and later it was Poroshenko who allegedly became the owner of the Ukrainian section of the oil product pipeline, known as the «Medvedchuk pipe».