Belgrade, Dec 19, 2003 - The Serbian Ministry of Finance and Economy has conducted an analysis of the operations of the National Savings Bank (Nacionalna Stedionica), which showed that the owners of its majority share of 54.22 percent are six private shareholders controlled by off-shore companies. There are grounded reasons to suspect that they do not have sufficient bank solvency to be shareholders of such bank and that the capital stock increase did not boost National Savings Bank's potentials.
The analysis, approved at yesterday's government session, was presented to the media today by Minister of Finance and Economy Bozidar Djelic and his deputy, Milica Bisic.
Djelic said that the government requested an investigation into the financial management of the bank on Nov 1, 2003 after an attempt of the fourth emission of the bank's recapitalisation. It was then that the government representatives uncovered an attempt of introducing a foreign strategic partner without a proper tender procedure, which calls for a written approval of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS).
The Minister of Finance and Economy said that the state is not the majority owner of the National Savings Bank, but owns only 10.5 percent and has no real impact on the bank's business management. He emphasised that the National Savings Bank was founded on Dec 26, 2001 only to receive exclusive jurisdiction on Feb 20, 2002. The bank was given the jurisdiction to repay the old foreign currency savings at the proposal of the then National Bank of Yugoslavia governor Mladjan Dinkic. Djelic also said that the money for the repayment of the old foreign currency savings was secured from the budget of the Republic of Serbia.
The conducted investigation revealed, Bisic said, that out of the six majority shareholders of the National Savings Bank, four are founded by off-shore companies and the remaining two by the same person. Three of the six shareholders had the required initial minimum capital of $5,000, two had less than the required amount, whilst no data exists for the last holder. All transactions were performed via one bank, Moscow-based Euroaxis Bank, she said.
Djelic said that the National Savings Bank is not safe for the use of citizens and that the country's national interests are at stake. He expressed the hope that the problem will be resolved soon, pointing to two potential solutions - make the state the bank's majority holder or deny the institution its given exclusive authority.
Djelic said that the government will demand that the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering investigates into the origins of the National Savings Bank's capital. It was also suggested that the Serbian government and the Bank Rehabilitation Agency should reconsider granting the National Savings Bank the exclusive right to repay the old foreign currency savings. The government will also advise the NBS to assess the bank's solvency and investigate into the connections between the bank's shareholders, the Minister of Finance and Economy said.
