Minister of Finance Anatol Arapu voiced hope that the private sector will manage Banca de Economii (BEM) better than the state. The state holding in this bank fell from 56.13% to 33.38% after the last additional share issue, IPN reports.

The Administration Board of the National Financial Market Commission established that the procedures performed to issue extra shares to the value of 80.2 million lei were legal and all the shareholders had access to the related documents and were able to subscribe for a number of stocks proportional to their share in the bank’s capital.

The state didn’t subscribe for shares of this issue, but kept a holding of 33.38% that enables blocking the decisions taken by the assembly of shareholders, if they run counter to its interests.

Currently, the BEM has over 2,000 shareholders. Among the largest are the state (33.38% of the shares) and the integrated information systems company “Sisteme Informaţionale Integrate” SRL (33.72%), which bought shares of the additional issue.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said that if the situation at the BEM improves, the value of the state holding in this bank will increase and the shares will cost more.