Exchange controls have been lifted on Ukraine's currency, the Hryvnia. The controls halted the slide in the currency but did little to calm fears of a default. The question now is, can the central bank defend its currency? Simon Quijano-Evans, Head of Emerging Markets at Commerzbank, says a big question mark hangs over Russia's support and so there need to see a clearer sitting at the table between Russia and the EU to set things right.

SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (FEBRUARY 17, 2014)

1. COMMERZBANK, HEAD OF EMERGING MARKETS, SIMON QUIJANO-EVANS, SAYING:

JOURNALIST ASKING SIMON QUIJANO-EVANS: 'You know on the one side, we've got these currency controls but let's face it, if we're going to see growth come back in this country, the political situation needs to be addressed, right?'

SIMON QUIJANO-EVANS: 'Yes, absolutely. I mean you need the calming of the political situation. You need a resolution to who will continue to run the country. You need the opposition to discuss with the government itself. But you also need foreign entities - the European Union, the U.S., and the Russian authority to sit at one table to get this all in order because at the moment what we're seeing is a, if you like, post-Cold War tug of war which is not helping Ukraine itself and which is presenting a high risk situation for the country.'

JOURNALIST: 'Reuters has an analysis piece out this morning entitled, 'Neither the U.S. nor the EU has a Strategy for the Ukraine,' would you agree with that?'

SIMON QUIJANO-EVANS: 'I think that we need to see something clearer. This is certainly the case. Especially from the European Union, what we've seen in the last 12 months out of the EU is a foreign policy approach to the whole of the region, East of the current EU borders which is obviously to a certain extent, in a way if you like, shocked Russia. So there we need to see a clearer sitting at the table between Russia and the European Union to get things more in order definitely.'

JOURNALIST: 'Claims that the flexible exchange rate will help on the current account side, will help inflation, will help ultimately the growth story, are those overblown, those claims?'

SIMON QUIJANO-EVANS: 'I mean obviously at the end of the day to have more of a flexible currency is advisable because what the Ukraine has been doing in the last 24 months is essentially depleting its foreign exchange reserves without receiving any substantial foreign aid. And even the Russian support at the moment is a big question mark. How is that going to continue? So definitely a first step, is this currency flexibilization, if you like, and see that the market determines more of the exchange rate.'

JOURNALIST: 'And for how long do you think the bank can continue propping up the currency? And how long does the market think it'll be able to do that?'

SIMON QUIJANO-EVANS: 'Well, I mean what has happened in the last two years is, as I said, the central bank's been using its FX reserves to pay down external debt payments. So if it would continue without any foreign aid, then we could see this continue maybe for another six to nine months. But obviously with the flexible exchange rate now, more flexible exchange rate, the central bank has to take this into account which essentially it boils down to not depleting any more the FX reserves and seeing that there is some sustainable foreign financing in place.' '