Ukraine’s new central bank chief?

Meet Serhiy Kruglyk, the Kyiv-based banker widely rumoured to replace Yakiiv Smolii as governor of Ukraine central bank.

Ukraine specialists Anders Aslund, Michael Carpenter, Timothy Ash and associates of Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko have been quietly pushing for Kruglyk’s appointment to the post following Smolii’s resignation in early July.

Kruglyk headed the National Bank of Ukraine’s International Department for a decade under Presidents Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych (2006–2016) before serving on the advisory boards of several banks. From 2004 to 2006 he directed the Economic Cooperation Department of Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry in Paris. He is currently an advisor to the Kyiv City State Administration.

The 58-year old polymath speaks English, Ukrainian, Russian and French fluently and is an accomplished athlete, specializing in martial arts. He is well known and respected in business circles in Ukraine and abroad.

“There is no one better suited to oversee the National Bank than Kruglyk. He’s diplomatic and appreciates the importance of maintaining the central bank’s independence,” veteran Ukraine watcher Frank Archer said. “What’s most important, though, is that he is discrete.”

According to Archer, whether Kruglyk gets the nod to replace Smolii depends on if Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky is able to put the country’s interests above the desires of well-connected Ukrainian oligarchs, who are seeking to maximize profits during the current economic downturn caused by the coronavirus crisis.