President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti welcomed the National Bank’s decision to block the controlling holding of two groups of shareholders of Victoriabank, IPN reports.

“We welcome the fact that the NBM reacted, being supported by the Government. It is a step that respects the supremacy of the law and shows that we can have robust regulation in the banking sector,” Suma Chakrabarti said in a news conference in Chisinau on February 6.

According to him, by this decision the NBM implements the changes that the EBRD and IMF promoted. “The regulator was courageous and was supported by the Government. We support the regulator too,” stated the EBRD President.

NBM governor Dorin Dragutanu the same day said such a decision was taken because the two groups of shareholders acted concertedly. “We had evidence that they acted concertedly, without the permission of the central bank. They purchased significant shareholdings in Victoriabank in a coordinated and non-transparent way,” he stated.

For his part, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca criticized the Moldovan justice, referring to the decision of a Comrat court that annulled the NBM’s decisions on Victoriabank before their approval. “The Comrat court anticipated the central bank’s decision. This is not the first time that the Moldovan legal system creates problems,” said the Premier.

He also said that the authorities are determined to take steps to prevent such situations. “We agreed with out colleagues from Parliament to return to the legal framework that regulates the activity of the NBM in the first meetings so as to bar the Moldovan courts of law from pronouncing on the NBM’s decisions on monetary policy and the attitude towards stockholders,” stated Iurie Leanca.

He added that the Committee on Financial Stability took decisions that will enable to make bank ownership transparent.