Ukraine as a nation-state is finished - and its corrupt oligarch rulers are taking the kitchen sink
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
The Ukrainian government announced on Monday that it was taking over ownership of the country's largest lender, the now ironically named Privatbank, at the request of the bank's board after they announced they could not meet their obligations to depositors.
But why did Privatbank require a total takeover by the government? Well obviously Putin is to blame - that's a given - but what exactly happened to make the bank insolvent?
As it turns out, the bank's largest shareholders made a collective decision to systematically loot the bank. They established shell companies overseas and in various places in Ukraine -- many were registered in residential apartments in the city of Kharkov - companies they controlled. They then issued massive loans to themselves and essentially, pocketed the cash.
It is suspected that many of the companies and their shareholders were controlled indirectly by principal Privatbank owner Igor Kolomoisky.
(BneIntellinews published an excellent break down of exactly how the bank was stripped, which you can read here.)
The next step was simply calling up Poroshenko and dumping the entire institution - and all its debt - on the Ukrainian taxpayers. And since Ukraine is bankrolled by the world via the IMF, they dumped the debt on the rest of the world as well.
This is nothing less than plain pre-meditated robbery.
The behavior of these shameless criminals is a telling sign. Even Ukraine's pro-European elite have given up all hope in salvaging the the country. It has been devastated by incurable corruption and political extremism, not to mention a coup d'etat and the ensuing civil war.
Basically, Kolomoisky and his friends have decided to cash out of Ukraine.
They are behaving like rats fleeing a sinking ship. And the people of Ukraine will be the ones left without lifeboats when it goes down.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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