KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s national anti-corruption agency declared former central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko a wanted man on Monday along with two employees of the Ukrgazbank lender, on suspicion of embezzling more than 200 million hryvnia ($5.42 million).
Shevchenko abruptly resigned on Oct. 4 citing health problems, but later saying he had faced political pressure after an old embezzlement case against him was reawakened immediately after his departure. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Shevchenko assumed the post in July 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, promising to maintain the bank’s independence and to cooperate with the International Monetary Fund.
In resigning, he noted the bank’s successes since the start of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 this year, including the uninterrupted operation of the financial system and its prevention of panic on the foreign exchange market and of large-scale capital outflow to protect reserves.
($1 = 36.9300 hryvnias)
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Gareth Jones)
