Private investments saves Moldovan state bank from default, experts say

10:59 | 24.03.2015 Category: Economic

Chisinau, 24 March /MOLDPRES/ - The biggest bank of Moldova avoided the default at some point, and the Moldovan banking system – a catastrophe, due to private investments. The main investment strategist of BrokerCreditService financial group, Maxim Shein, has made statements to this effect for the webpage polit.ru, while commenting on the polemic resumed by some Moldovan media about the huge sums taken out from the biggest bank of Moldova in 2013.

„De facto, thanks to private investments, the banking system of Moldova avoided a catastrophe in 2013, which could get to the bottom the entire Moldovan economy,” the expert said.

At a news briefing, a well-known Moldovan entrepreneur, former head of the Management Board of the state Savings Bank (Banca de Economic) Ilan Shor provided details on the crisis at the biggest Moldovan state financial institution. Shor said that the bank’s problems had started long before 2013. Money from the Banca de Economii were withdrawn in big amounts by bank’s former managers and, inclusively, with the consent of the then finance minister, who „de facto” managed this bank till private investors came.

In Shor’s opinion, the pressure on non-reimbursed loans, gathered for years, was one of the reasons for which the parliamentary special commission, and subsequently, the government took the decision to make an additional issuance of shares and to look for private investors.

„At that time, a half of the credit portfolio of Banca de Economii was made of non-reimbursed credits. New shareholders paid off a part of these credits in amount of 300 million lei and took a subordinated loan of another 50 million dollars. The bank’s former management provided loans to everyone based on the non-existing pledge. We were shocked when we saw the real situation at the bank,” Shor said.

„When statements about irregularities at the bank appeared, as well as about allegedly illegal operations and appeals to return the bank to the state, this triggered certain astonishment, as well as suspicions. These were appeals by people who, when the Banca de Economii was issuing the above-mentioned „credits”, held the office of finance minister (Veaceslav Negruta), head of the parliamentary commission for banks and finance (Veaceaslav Ionita), i.e. were directly participating in managing this institution, which was owned by the state. Now, we wonder how they couldn't they know about these operations and whether their provocative statements are an attempt not to be get rid of responsibility for the former machinations, passing it to the new managers,” Shor said.

„The bank had very big problems, with roots in the ‘90es, but the hole was made when these high-ranking officials were in office and became the cause of the issuance,” Shor said.

Ilan Shor added that, in the 7 months when he managed the mentioned Bank, the quota of non-repayable loans had dropped from 47 per cent to 20 percent.

Source: www.polit.ru

(Editor M. Jantovan)

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