The Party “Action and Solidarity” (PAS) asks the governor of the National Bank of Moldova to present in public information about the way in which the emergency loans provided by the central bank under the Government’s guarantee in November 2014 – April 2015 were used. Members of the party also ask Parliament not to accept to convert these loans into state debt until the required information is not provided and it is not proven that the National Bank didn’t abuse the resources entrusted to it.
PAS head Maia Sandu, in a news conference at IPN, said several days ago the Government submitted to Parliament a bill by which the emergency loans released by the central bank to the three banks involved in the theft of the billion – Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala and Unibank – are transformed into state bonds. “We know very well that the authorities didn’t make headway in investigating the theft of the billion. The Government says different things about the recovery of the money that actually comes from the sale of the assets of the liquidated banks. There is not much to be sold there. That property will be sold soon and the Government will again not have what to report,” she stated.
According to the leader of the PAS, it’s clear that the current government is not interested in elucidating the case and in finding and punishing those to blame. Only a new government that will promote honest and professional people in the public institutions can do this. The bank fraud wasn’t committed overnight. “The National Bank had time to react if it wanted to. It also had the necessary means - even if the law didn’t provide many instruments, the central bank didn’t use those stipulated by the law. The theft shouldn’t have been allowed and the gap left by the theft in the budget wouldn’t have had to be covered now,” said Maia Sandu.
The politician noted that as it was found out later, on November 13, 2014, as a result of fraudulent actions at the three banks, the Government authorized the National Bank of Moldova to release emergency loans of up to 9.5 billion lei to the three banks, if necessary. Maia Sandu, who then served as minister of education, said she didn’t take part in that Government meeting and does not know what was disused there. But the Government decision shows that these loans were used for a wide range of purposes, including paying the people’s deposits, clearing debts to international organizations and covering the missing resources of the National House of Social Insurance and the National Health Insurance Company.
According to Maia Sandu, in March 2015 the governor of the National Bank informed the Government that there was not enough money for covering the people’s deposits and, if additional loans are not provided, about 1 million people will lose the savings they made throughout life. The Government then had to issue another guarantee. Thus, the emergency loans released by the central bank total about 13.5 billion lei.
