The state didn’t have 1 billion lei to take Banca de Economii (BEM) out of the economic impasse, Minister of Finance Anatol Arapu said in the hearings held by the parliamentary commission on economy, budget and finance. The state-owned holding in this bank fell from 56.13% to 33.38% after the last additional issue of shares for which the state didn’t subscribe.

The governor of the National Bank of Moldova Dorin Dragutanu said the BEM was in the worst situation in February – March when its problems were in the focus of the media. In the period, the depositors withdrew massively their money from accounts and the bank remained without almost 1 billion lei.

Dorin Dragutanu also said that despite the encountered difficulties, the bank continued to work and released the amounts asked by the depositors on time. The clients started to return to the BEM in April. For over 12 months, the bank hasn’t granted loans and thus needed additional capital in order to work normally.

The members of the parliamentary commission expressed their indignation at the fact that the state owns a shareholding that is equal in size to the holding of another shareholder about whom nothing is known. Before the additional shares were issued, this shareholder held less than 10% of the stock.

The administration of the central bank is to recover the money from the debtors that took out loans through the agency of courts of law. The Government and the other majority shareholder, in concert with the bank’s administration, will work out a plan of action to make the BEM competitive on the financial-banking market. New persons may be named to the administration and the executive committee.