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, according to dpa. 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. Monetary policy and the relative value of the national currency, the hryvna, are highly politicised issues in Ukraine. Politicians tied with Ukraine's agriculture and light manufacturing industries typically support a strong hyrvna to reduce the cost of imported Russian energy. Politicians linked to Ukraine's metals and chemicals industries generally call for a weak hryvna, to make the country's industrial manufactures lower-priced in international markets.
