Impact of liquidation of Universalbank will be limited

The initiation of the forced liquidation procedure at Universalbank, which was a predictable one, will not essentially affect the banking system, National Bank governor Dorin Dragutanu reiterated in a program on Radio Moldova, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. He said the measures taken by the central bank since last autumn to change the state of affairs at the bank did not produce results. The bank’s management continued to work non-transparently and allow violations of the legislation, while the conflicts between the shareholders did not contribute to the identification of solutions that could save the bank. Thus, it became insolvent. Speaking about the steps that will be taken, Dragutanu said Ion Ropot - the liquidator named by the National Bank – started work. “Currently, there is sufficient liquidity to pay private individuals’ deposits of up to 50,000 lei. A number of 169 persons have deposits of 100,000, 200,000, 300,000 lei, 1 million lei and over. Their deposits total 39 million lei. It is not a large number. Investprivatbank had tens of thousands of depositors with deposits of 600 million lei. The next months, the liquidator will announce auctions to sell the assets. The debtors will be sued. I think the sum of 39 million lei will be collected,” he stated. As to other creditors, the governor said a Swiss bank will be the first to be paid US$45 million. Afterward, there will be paid the debts of 4 million lei to legal entities. Only 27 legal entities have deposits larger than 10,000 lei. “It is an unpleasant situation, but when the license was withdrawn Univesrsalbank had a market share of only 0.45% and the problems that are to be solved by the liquidator are not so serious. We thus believe the impact on the situation in the banking system and the financial situation in general will be limited,” said Dorin Dragutanu.