site.btaAnother Report on Corpbank Due September 21

ESD 17:41:00 09-09-2014
VE1741ES.129
129 ECONOMY - CORPBANK - CONDITION - MEETING

Another Report
on Corpbank
Due September 21

Sofia, September 9 (BTA) - Bulgarian National Bank (BNB)
Governor Ivan Iskrov told Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov on
Tuesday that the central bank will publish another report on the
condition of the ailing Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank) on
September 21. The news was reported by Sasho Donchev, Chairman
of the Managing Board of the Bulgarian Industrial Association,
who, along with Iskrov and other financial experts and
economists, held a nearly two-hour meeting with the chief
prosecutor earlier in the day.

Donchev said he fears that Corpbank cannot be resuscitated
without public finances.

The country's fourth biggest lender has been inoperable since
June 21 due to a lack of liquid assets and has been placed under
special supervision by the central bank to allow a thorough
audit and possible restructuring. Majority owner Tsvetan
Vassilev and senior executives of the bank have been charged
with embezzlement. Vassilev is on Interpol's wanted persons list
and his whereabouts are unknown.

"The bank's recovery is becoming more and more difficult with
each passing day," Donchev said, and then asked rhetorically:
"Are we going to wait until even public finances cannot help?"

According to him, the participants in Tuesday's meeting have no
personal stake in the Corpbank case, but still they expressed
their shared desire to have the bank salvaged for business
reasons. Prosecutor General Tsatsarov agreed that the bank
should be rescued. "That is why, both employer organizations and
trade unions propose broadening the dialogue to include experts
from BNB and its Governing Council. Our biggest concern is that
nothing is being done right now," Donchev said. He believes
that BNB is the only body that could do something about it, but
he sees no actions being taken.

Donchev argued that back at the time when Corpbank was placed
under special supervision, it was not really in a bad condition.
But now, society stands to lose a lot if the lender is not
salvaged, he said. "It is a fact that there is no dialogue
between the public and BNB and its Governing Council," he
complained.

Another meeting on the matter, in a broader format, may be held
at the end of the week or early next week, Donchev said. VI/VE