The three banks - Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala and Unibank – that have been involved in the stealing of billions of lei must be liquidated, Head of Parliament Andrian Candu said in the talk show “Reply” on Prime TV channel, IPN reports.

The Speaker referred especially to Banca de Economii, in which the state holds controlling interest. “I do not believe in the prosperity of a bank managed by the state because the state is not a good administrator. The involvement of state officials in the management of banks causes conflicts of interests,” he stated.

Andrian Candu also said that if the banks are liquidated, the liquidation process will be based on three principles: full restoration of depositors’ money, continuation of investigations to hold accountable those who committed the fraud and recovery of the stolen money. A bill is being drafted to avoid such frauds in the banking system in the future.

In reply, economic analyst Ion Preasca said that if Banca de Economii is liquidated, it will be impossible to pay back the money to all the depositors. “It is a sum of about 22 billion lei and the bank does not have such money,” he stated.

Andrian Candu responded that a part of this money represent bank mishmashes in the form of reciprocal debts. In reality, the amount owed to the depositors is much lower and the bank can cover these costs.