KIEV, Dec. 2 – The National Bank of Ukraine should not artificially support the hryvnia exchange rate, according to Shigeo Katsu, vice president of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia.

"The present change in the hryvnia exchange rate is not linked with speculation. The reason for the weakening of the hryvnia lies in the restricted access to foreign financing and changes in the structure of foreign trade, and one should not resist this," he said in a article published in the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper.