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Yanukovych replaces national bank head

23 December 2010 13:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. President Viktor Yanukovych on Thursday sacked a long-serving head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and replaced him with a little-known official, Monsters and Critics reported.

The outgoing NBU director, Volodymyr Stelkmakh, was one of the few remaining top government officials appointed by Yanukovych’s predecessor, the pro-Europe politician Viktor Yushchenko.

Stelmakh, 71, is one of Ukraine’s most senior government officials. During a six-year stint as NBU head he became known for conservative and independent fiscal policy.

Stelmakh’s replacement Serhy Arbuzov, 34, is a loyal supporter of the pro-Russia Yanukovych and his Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, according to news reports.

’This change will make the NBU less independent,’ according to an article in Ukraine’s largest daily newspaper Segodnya.’

Arbuzov’s previous career was in private banking in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, the home of President Yanukovych.

Yanukovych in May appointed Arbuzov as a member of the NBU board of directors.