Valeria Gontareva, former head of the National Bank of Ukraine, says that she and her family are under threat from billionaire Ukrainian oligarch and former co-owner of PrivatBank Ihor Kolomoisky.
She was still recovering in a British hospital on Sept. 5 after an Aug. 26 hit-and-run on a pedestrian crossing in central London left her badly injured when she received more bad news.
On Sept. 5, Gontareva said that her son’s family car in Kyiv, registered to her daughter-in-law, who is also named Valeria Gontareva, was set on fire in the early hours of the morning. Videos and photos posted online showed the family car ablaze. Photos later showed the burned-out frame of the car following the alleged arson attack. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
“While I was in a hospital in London with severe injuries, an attack occurred on my family today. At one in the morning, my elder son’s family car was doused with gasoline and burned outside their house in the center of Kyiv. The car was registered with my daughter-in-law, who is also called Valeria Gontareva,” the ex-head of the NBU told LIGA.net.
She labeled it a direct attack against her family and said it was connected to threats she has received, and veiled threats made against her in media interviews by Kolomoisky.
Gontareva also thinks the arson attack is connected to the earlier hit-and-run incident in London, which has left her with multiple bone fractures, as well as other injuries. The incident is being investigated by U.K. police, as is standard for such hit-and-run traffic incidents.
Gontareva did not respond to a request for comment from the Kyiv Post before deadline but has previously told this newspaper that she believes Kolomoisky was behind the London hit-and-run. She also says she is fearful of the Ukrainian oligarch (whom she labeled “the devil”) and says that he has repeatedly threatened her.
Kolomoisky declined multiple calls from the Kyiv Post and did not read or respond to messages requesting a comment in regard to his possible involvement in the alleged Gontareva attacks. There is no evidence that Kolomoisky or his associates are responsible for any attack against the Gontareva family and he is not understood to be the focus of any police investigations.
Valeria Gontareva, former head of the NBU, has shared photos with the media that show her burned-out family car in Kyiv. (Photo: Valeria Gontareva).
Gontareva, however, says there is an active reprisal campaign against her and her family: “Unfortunately, not only political terror was declared against me, but, as we see, also physical destruction… They have already moved from verbal threats to real actions. I hope our law enforcement authorities have the professionalism to solve this crime in the center of Kyiv” she told LIGA on Sept. 5.
Gontareva was in charge of the NBU in 2016 when the country’s largest bank, PrivatBank, was nationalized and taken away from its then owners, Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Boholyubov.
Investigators discovered the bank had a $5.5-billion hole in its ledger and faced collapse after years of alleged insider lending and fraud. Multiple court cases, including in the U.K. and U.S., are currently ongoing in which PrivatBank is attempting to recover assets that it alleges were looted from the bank.
On Sept. 4, a Kyiv court ruled that Gontareva could be forced to attend a State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) interrogation in Kyiv, in relation to an investigation into alleged abuse of authority while she was head of the NBU and played a pivotal role in nationalizing PrivatBank.
It is not clear how the SBI could compel or force Gontareva to leave London for questioning in Kyiv and it is highly unlikely that the U.K. authorities would extradite her, even if criminal charges were brought.
Kolomoisky himself has previously threatened to help bring Gontareva back to Kyiv: “In an interview, Kolomoisky said that if I do not return to Ukraine, he will take me out privately. In English this is kidnapping. This is a crime in the UK. I want this to be clear to everyone. If something happens to me, I want it so that everyone knows why,” Gontareva said in a June interview with BBC Ukrainian.
Gontareva has said that in addition to fearing for her safety in Ukraine, the investigations and court cases against her in Kyiv are spurious and politically motivated.
She has said, however, she is open to being questioned in London.
In addition to highlighting the threats to her and her family, Gontareva has recently warned against the threats of political interference at the NBU, and said that civil society should be watchful for attempts to undermine its neutrality.
The senior economist now works as a research fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
