The governor of the National Bank of Moldova Dorin Dragutanu accuses the ruling parties of attempting to undermine the independence of the central bank. He made related statements in the talk show “In Depth” on PRO TV Chisinau channel, IPN reports.
“The goal of my resignation was to sound the alarm about the recent attempts to diminish the independence of the National Bank. All the parties, including the extraparliamentary ones, all the media outlets, analysts and bloggers turned their attention to the National Bank. We endured patiently. I made no statements for the press as any word of mine could have been used to cause destabilization in particular sectors,” stated Dragutanu.
He accused the ruling parties of trying to make the central bank a scapegoat so as to avoid bearing responsibility. “There is a clear reason. All the arrows were aimed at the National Bank in order to hide who is to blame for the thefts committed at Banca de Economii and the other two banks. The politicians made money and media networks and attracted bloggers and commentators on their side. They provide the information in the way they want. The people should know what the truth is,” said the governor.
He also said that he possesses sufficient information about the persons who stole money from the banking system and will furnish the investigation bodies and Kroll with it. “Kroll will perform the second stage of investigations into the theft committed at Banca de Economii and I will see the people’s reaction when they find out the truth,” stated Dragutanu.
In the same program, the governor announced that he repeatedly warned the senior administration about the irregularities committed in the financial-banking sector and asked for additional powers. “The Ministry of Finance was the one that managed Banca de Economii. They say nothing about this. Everyone thinks that the stealing was committed during two days, in November 2014. I said in 2012 first that this bank should get a cash injection and the management system there should be changed so that no political influence could be exerted on it. I discussed this issue with ex-Premier Leanca, who told me that Vlad Filat will kick him out,” said Dragutanu.
He noted that he made everything possible to avoid the collapse of the banking system. “Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala and Unibank keep 30% of the deposits made in banks. When I realized what was going on, I did my best to avoid the fall of the system. If these banks had started to be liquidated immediately, the whole banking system would have collapsed,” he stated.
Dorin Dragutanu announced that he tendered his resignation in a news conference on September 21.
