Raider attack on Banca de Economii goes on, finance minister

The raider attack on Banca de Economii (Savings Bank), in which the state owns a majority holding, continues, with the minority shareholders trying to take over, Minister of Finance Veaceslav Negruta said in Parliament, being questioned at the request of the Lib-Dem Valeriu Strelet following recent press report, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The situation of Banca de Economii shows clearly that the raider attacks initiated last summer did not stop. Banca de Economii continues to be the target of several companies that want to appropriate it at all costs, including by illegal ways, by involving courts and bailiffs,” said Veaceslav Negruta. According to the ministers, a series of orders made by the Chisinau Economic Court were implemented on March 22-23, 2012. As a result, 18.54% of the shares belonging to two companies were transferred to owners residing in Russia. The minister said that the transactions were performed with deviations as the ordinance of the National Financial Market Commission of August 24, 2011 to block the shares held by the two companies was ignored. The Commission made a new ordinance to block the given share as the state institutions considered the transfer as nontransparent and suspicious. Last summer, based on a number of unclear court decisions, a group of offshore companies tried to enter Banca de Economii with the aim of controlling the bank. Before this, a series of companies, including state-run ones, were asked to withdraw from Banca de Economii and join other banking institutions so as to weaken the financial positions of the bank.