Batkivschyna Party leader and Verkhovna Rada deputy Yulia Tymoshenko has said the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is executing a program to gut the nation's banking system.

"What is taking place is a massive gutting of Ukraine's banking system – that much is obvious. Some 85 banks have fallen under Ms. Gontareva's program to destroy Ukrainian banks," Tymoshenko said at a sitting of the parliament's conciliatory council meeting on Monday.

According to Tymoshenko, Ukraine's head of state oversaw the activities of the NBU and Ukraine's Deposit Guarantee Fund. She added that without his [Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's] knowledge the bank elimination plan could not have been executed.

"PrivatBank, which was forced into bankruptcy, is another step in this program," Tymoshenko said.