Some of their arguments seemed tenuous – they had little luck convincing writers from reputable publications. They did, however, score one notable success. Later that month, an outraged blog post was published on the website of the Mises Institute, a US think-tank dedicated to promoting the ideas of Austrian School economists.
The post, which was widely disseminated by the bondholders’ PRs, savaged the Ukrainian central bank for nationalizing Privat “for what we now know was an incorrect understanding of the facts.
“This extraordinary takeover … is an almost classic case of government overreach,” it read. “The NBU’s inappropriate and unnecessary nationalization has hurt the Ukrainian economy, stolen millions from PrivatBank’s owners and is forcing Ukraine’s taxpayers to bear a substantial additional burden … It is the textbook definition of a scandal.”
Scathing denunciation
The author of this scathing denunciation – which bore a striking resemblance to the line being peddled by the bondholders and their representatives – turned out to be the UK’s own John Mills.
A self-styled economist and prolific writer, Mills is better known as a consumer goods entrepreneur and a pioneer of shopping channel marketing.
He is also a long-time supporter and financier of the Labour Party, as well as chairman of the Pound Campaign, a pressure group set up in 2014 to force a devaluation of sterling by unspecified means to boost UK manufacturing.