The Government chose the optimal solution in the case of Banca de Economii (BEM), considers the governor of the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) Dorin Dragutanu. The official told the press that the decision not to take part in the purchase of shares from the recent additional issue was taken by the Government. The National Bank of Moldova does not have powers to intervene and impose decisions on the shareholders.
“There was chosen the optimal solution for overcoming the problems faced by the BEM as they will be solved without allocating money from the state budget. The bank will be capitalized to 1 billion lei,” said the governor, quoted by IPN.
In a news conference at the BNM, Deputy Minister of Finance Victor Barbaneagra said that the Government decided not to subscribe for shares from the recent additional issue after analyzing the conclusions of the parliamentary commission that examined the situation created at the BEM. According to assessments, the state will win less from holding a majority holding in the BEM than from holding a blocking holding of 33.3%, following the capitalization of the bank.
The deputy minister promised that a joint statement will be issued or a news conference will be soon held to provide details about the transaction performed at the BEM and to explain why the state decided not to keep the majority holding.
The state-owned shareholding in the BEM fell from 56.13% to 33.38% after the last additional share issue.
