{"id":442197,"date":"2016-06-06T11:17:20","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T11:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=442197"},"modified":"2016-06-06T11:26:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T11:26:00","slug":"ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/","title":{"rendered":"EBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development bought<\/a> 12,5% shares of the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank. The acquisition costed 6 million euros, shares costing 1,92 euros per unit, half as the book value from Alpha Bank Romania, a subsidiary of the Greek Alpha Bank. The increase took EBRD’s shareholding to 27,5%. <\/p>\n

Henry Russell, director of Financial Institutions for the Western Balkans, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine at the EBRD, declared that the European bank controls the stakes through VB Investment Holding, located outside Moldova. According to him, the operation is crucial to restore effective corporate governance and to ensure continued sound financial performance:<\/p>\n

“The transaction, which required the reversal of recently adopted prohibitive legislation, is an important step that underlines how crucial it is to preserve Victoriabank as an independent, commercially-oriented and profitable institution with transparent ownership that benefits the Moldovan economy.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Russell also called the National Bank of Moldova to act in regard to the non-transparency of the shareholding of Insidown, the biggest shareholder at Victoriabank:<\/p>\n

“Large shareholders in large banks have to act responsibly. It falls on Victoriabank\u2019s largest shareholder, Insidown, to ensure that its nominees prepare and submit their documentation. I call on the National Bank to ensure that this is done immediately and in line with good governance principles.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The EBRD, the leading institutional investor in Moldova, invested in Victoriabank in August 1995, alongside the bank\u2019s founders, to support a locally owned, sound commercial bank with high standards of corporate governance and integrity. This goal has been frustrated since June 2006 when the control of Victoriabank\u2019s supervisory board passed to non-transparent shareholders, unacceptable to the EBRD and to other key shareholders. Victoriabank has been operating without effective corporate governance since September 2014, its supervisory board being suspended by a court order. A new seven-member board elected at the October 2015 extraordinary shareholder meeting initiated by the EBRD remains non-functional as three elected board members have not submitted the required documentation for approval by the National Bank.<\/p>\n

The EBRD, previously a major lender to the Moldovan banking system, has refrained from any new deals with banks owned by non-transparent shareholders. The EBRD\u2019s finance to the sector has significantly decreased, from over \u20ac40 million in 2010 to just \u20ac12.5 million in 2015. Other international financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF which, together with the EBRD, represent the most important source of long-term funding for the Moldovan banking system have also halted investments in financial institutions with non-transparent ownership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development bought 12,5% shares of the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank. The acquisition costed 6 million euros, shares costing 1,92 euros per unit, half as the book value from Alpha Bank Romania, a subsidiary of the Greek Alpha Bank. The increase took EBRD’s shareholding to 27,5%. Henry Russell, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":442198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-442197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-important-en"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development bought<\/a> 12,5% shares of the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank. The acquisition costed 6 million euros, shares costing 1,92 euros per unit, half as the book value from Alpha Bank Romania, a subsidiary of the Greek Alpha Bank. The increase took EBRD’s shareholding to 27,5%. <\/p>\n

Henry Russell, director of Financial Institutions for the Western Balkans, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine at the EBRD, declared that the European bank controls the stakes through VB Investment Holding, located outside Moldova. According to him, the operation is crucial to restore effective corporate governance and to ensure continued sound financial performance:<\/p>\n

“The transaction, which required the reversal of recently adopted prohibitive legislation, is an important step that underlines how crucial it is to preserve Victoriabank as an independent, commercially-oriented and profitable institution with transparent ownership that benefits the Moldovan economy.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Russell also called the National Bank of Moldova to act in regard to the non-transparency of the shareholding of Insidown, the biggest shareholder at Victoriabank:<\/p>\n

“Large shareholders in large banks have to act responsibly. It falls on Victoriabank\u2019s largest shareholder, Insidown, to ensure that its nominees prepare and submit their documentation. I call on the National Bank to ensure that this is done immediately and in line with good governance principles.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The EBRD, the leading institutional investor in Moldova, invested in Victoriabank in August 1995, alongside the bank\u2019s founders, to support a locally owned, sound commercial bank with high standards of corporate governance and integrity. This goal has been frustrated since June 2006 when the control of Victoriabank\u2019s supervisory board passed to non-transparent shareholders, unacceptable to the EBRD and to other key shareholders. Victoriabank has been operating without effective corporate governance since September 2014, its supervisory board being suspended by a court order. A new seven-member board elected at the October 2015 extraordinary shareholder meeting initiated by the EBRD remains non-functional as three elected board members have not submitted the required documentation for approval by the National Bank.<\/p>\n

The EBRD, previously a major lender to the Moldovan banking system, has refrained from any new deals with banks owned by non-transparent shareholders. The EBRD\u2019s finance to the sector has significantly decreased, from over \u20ac40 million in 2010 to just \u20ac12.5 million in 2015. Other international financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF which, together with the EBRD, represent the most important source of long-term funding for the Moldovan banking system have also halted investments in financial institutions with non-transparent ownership.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","yoast_head":"\nEBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank - Moldova.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cristi Vlas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cristi Vlas\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f\"},\"headline\":\"EBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-06T11:17:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-06T11:26:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":419,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/1395250995186.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\",\"Important\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/\",\"name\":\"EBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank - Moldova.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/1395250995186.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-06T11:17:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-06T11:26:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/1395250995186.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/1395250995186.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":354},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moldova.org\",\"description\":\"The first news website of Moldova\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f\",\"name\":\"Cristi Vlas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cristi Vlas\"},\"description\":\"Correspondent reporter of Moldova.org Focus: Transnistrian conflict settlement, Eastern Partnership. Inquiries at cvlas@moldova.org\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/cristi.vlas.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/cristi_vlas\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/cristi-vlas-ab463276\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/twitter.com\\\/cristivlas\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/cristivlas\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank - Moldova.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cristi Vlas","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/"},"author":{"name":"Cristi Vlas","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f"},"headline":"EBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank","datePublished":"2016-06-06T11:17:20+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-06T11:26:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/"},"wordCount":419,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1395250995186.jpg","articleSection":["Economy","Important"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/","name":"EBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank - Moldova.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1395250995186.jpg","datePublished":"2016-06-06T11:17:20+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-06T11:26:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1395250995186.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1395250995186.jpg","width":750,"height":354},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/ebrd-increased-stake-275-third-biggest-bank-moldova-victoriabank\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EBRD increased its stake to 27,5% at the third biggest bank in Moldova, Victoriabank"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/","name":"Moldova.org","description":"The first news website of Moldova","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f","name":"Cristi Vlas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cristi Vlas"},"description":"Correspondent reporter of Moldova.org Focus: Transnistrian conflict settlement, Eastern Partnership. Inquiries at cvlas@moldova.org","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cristi.vlas.9","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cristi_vlas\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/cristi-vlas-ab463276\/","https:\/\/x.com\/twitter.com\/cristivlas"],"url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/author\/cristivlas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}