Valeria Gontareva. The Glitter and Machinations of the Queen of Coins

Valeria Gontareva is a member of Petro Poroshenko’s corporate “Family”, the first woman in the country’s history to hold the post of head of the National Bank. She headed the main financial regulator in the post-Maidan country 12 days after the inauguration of the President. Perhaps, it was Gontareva who was the target of the most criticism. She was accused of bringing the Ukrainian hryvnia to devaluation, MPs during their speeches in the Rada sometimes wanted to beat the banker, sometimes threw banknotes at her, and rallies of depositors demanding “garbage lustration” for her were held outside the NBU building. And all this was accompanied by regular rumors about the resignation of the head of the National Bank, allegedly even a statement was lying on Poroshenko’s desk – they were waiting for a tranche from the IMF. Despite all this, Valeria Gontareva has been in office for more than 2 years.

Who is Valeria Gontareva, the businesswoman who runs Ukraine’s finances? SKELET-info.

Everyday life of a financier

Valeria Alekseevna Gontareva (née Satanovskaya) was born on October 20, 1964 in Dnepropetrovsk. She received her higher education in Kyiv – at the KPI in the faculty of instrument making. After graduating, she worked for some time at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the accounting department. Thanks to this, she received the status of a participant in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident.

Gontareva (Satanovskaya) in her youth

Gontareva began her career in 1993 as an economist at the Ukrainian Interbank Currency Exchange. It is not clear how she got this position. The fact is that only in 1995 did the newly minted economist decide to get a specialized education. Gontareva entered the Kiev National Economic University and graduated with a master’s degree in economics in 1997. Moreover, the student in a matter of months joined the board of the Ukrainian subsidiary financial institution of the bank JSCB “Societe Generale Ukraine” in 1996. Valeria Alekseyevna’s main job responsibilities were working in capital markets.

In January 2001, Gontareva moved to work at a subsidiary of the Dutch bank ING Bank Ukraine as the first deputy chairman of the board of Alexander Pisaruk. In the summer of 2007, she sat in the chair of the acting chairman of the board and simultaneously served as the head of the financial markets department. In the fall of the same year, Pisaruk left his post, Gontareva became one of the main contenders for his position. However, Johannes Franciscus Grisel was appointed. After that, the financier left ING Bank Ukraine to go it alone.

The ICU Era

In one interview, Gontareva said that she always thought that she would be a hired worker and would never be able to hold a leadership position. Her life changed at the notorious age of 40, just like the heroine of “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears.”

In 2006, the ICU financial group appeared on the Ukrainian market. It includes: AMC Investment Capital Ukraine and the investment company of the same name. Valeria Gontareva’s husband Oleg was listed among the co-founders of the AMC from the moment of its foundation. Valeria Alekseyevna headed the ICU group in 2007. She became the main ideological inspirer and initiator of the creation of the investment structure. Within a year, ICU reached 6th place in terms of investment transactions in Ukraine. What is the secret of success?

Connections with “Putin (*criminal)’s bank”. ICU worked closely with the deputy head of the Russian “VTB Bank” (the second largest bank in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) by assets, the first by authorized capital; the majority owner is the Russian government) Yuri Solovyov, since a quarter of the structure belonged to his wife, Galina Ulyutina (another 22.74% belonged to the managing partners, Konstantin Stetsenko and Makar Pasenyuk).

Yuri Solovyov

He lent Valeria Alekseyevna tens of millions of dollars “for business development” from his offshore companies. Many, seeing the word “Russian”, think only of “betrayal”, but this situation looks completely opposite.

So, Gontareva hid the matter for a long time.