The former chairman of the Administration Board of Banca de Economii (BEM), businessman Ilan Shor, who is investigated within the criminal case concerning this bank, told a news conference that last April, when he took over the bank, 47% of the released loans were bad ones. By the time he completed his duties in November 2014, the percentage of bad loans was reduced to 20%. There were applied no schemes to steal money, as some politicians assert, IPN reports.
Ilan Shor provided explanations about the 10 billion lei injected by the central bank into Banca Sociala. “It is normal for money to be placed in a bank. Any financial institution performs such operations. On the one hand, the banks gather money giving interest on it. On the other hand, they lend money at a higher interest rate. The banks also invest money in other financial institutions, including from abroad. This is called deposit or interbank funding,” he stated.
The businessman also said that such international financial organizations as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as the National Bank of Moldova insistently recommended that the Moldovan banks should not place money in banks outside the country given the unstable regional situation. Complying with these recommendations, the central bank redirected the money and, as it was very hard to find debtors for such a large sum in a very short period, it decided to inject it into Banca Sociala.
Ilan Shor noted that Banca Sociala was chosen because it had been a stable and safe institution during its over 20 years of activity. It had been a viable bank before the National Bank placed it under special administration. What some call ‘financial hole’ at Banca Sociala is actually the difference between the repaid loans, the cost of assets and the money paid to depositors. As the maturity of some of the loans expire in several years, what they say about the ‘financial hole’ is nothing but speculations made by people who do not know what they say or do it for evil purposes.
The businessman also referred to the accusations concerning the irregularities at the BEM, made by ex-MP Veaceslav Ionita and former minister of finance Veaceslav Negruta. “When the BEM released bad loans, these former functionaries held important posts at the Ministry of Finance or within the Parliament’s commission on economy, budget and finance. Didn’t they know what was going on at the BEM, which was a state bank?” he asked.
As to the investigation into the situation at the BEM, Ilan Shor said he and his colleagues are ready to cooperate and to provide all the necessary information. He noted he wants this case to be elucidated as soon as possible and will support this process in all respects.
At the beginning of February, officers of the National Anticorruption Center and anticorruption prosecutors carried out searches within two criminal cases started over provision of bad loans by Banca de Economii and abuse of power by members of the Administration Board of Banca Sociala. A number of persons were later questioned, while two were arrested. The two persons acted based on the power of attorney, being authorized by certain companies, and afterward benefitted from loans from Banca Sociala. Ilan Shor was classed as a suspect.
