BEM says it has enough money to refund depositors of IPB

Moldova’s Banca de Economii (BEM) has sufficient liquidity to pay back the deposits made into Investprivatbank (IPB), the BEM president Grigore Gacichevici has told the reporters. Gacichevici stressed that the IPB depositors will get their money back if they want to can redeposit it with the BEM. He apologized for the queues at the branches and other inconveniences. “We ask the depositors to show understanding as there is a lot of work to do, including by hand. No one could foresee such a situation, but the money is safe and will be paid back,” he added. Under an agreement approved by the National Bank of Moldova, whereby the BEM is to acquire the bankrupt bank, the depositors of Investprivatbank will get their money back plus interest starting with July 1, after presenting a written application, or they can redeposit it at the BEM. The BEM president said that a sum of 45.7 million lei and foreign currency to the value of 79.1 million lei was transferred to Banca de Economii SA on July 1 and 2 for refunding the depositors. A number of 1,188 deposits will be repaid from the given sums. “The deposits are paid back at six branches of the BEM in Chisinau and 14 located in the country’s districts as well as at the head office of BC Investprivatbank and its subsidiaries. We cooperate with the central bank and can say that the procedure is under way. The BEM charges no commission for paying the deposits in cash and for redepositing the money with the BEM as many depositors want to transfer the money to our bank,” Gacichevici said. Asked how many customers want to redeposit the money with the BEM, Gacichevici said that the first results will be available on Monday, July 5.