The administration board of Victoriabank was suspended by a court decision after a minority shareholder challenged the decisions of the bank’s Extraordinary General Assembly of Shareholders. In a news conference at IPN, members of the board said they were suspended because they wanted to replace the institution’s executive.
“In the period between November 2013 and February 2014, a group of shareholders intended to take over the bank. The board was elected in the Extraordinary Assembly this February. On May 8, 2014, there was held the Extraordinary General Assembly of Shareholders, where a number of shortcomings were identified in the management, including the provision of loans that do not meet the norms according to the financial indicators, very large maintenance, guarding, advertising, repair and other kinds of costs,” said the president of the administration board Victor Turcan.
He added that the shareholders suggested giving a vote of no confidence to the bank’s executive and creating a commission of inquiry consisting of shareholders, members of the administration board and the censors commission for examining the bank’s activity and bringing the findings into focus. “After assessing the financial activity, the board established that the performance indicators stipulated in the business plan weren’t respected, while the work of the executive committee headed by Natalia Politov Cangas was unsatisfactory. It was determined that the institution’s resources have been used in the personal interests of the executive. As a result, it was decided to suspend her form post. Natalia Politov Cangas challenged the decision in court and was reinstated in her post. The administration board appealed the decision of the first court, but judgment is to be passed in three months,” said Victor Turcan.
On September 12, the Buicani District Court decided to suspend the administration board. “The bank remained without a supervision body. This decision is dubious in character. The challenge to suspend the decisions of the Assembly of Shareholders was filed by a shareholder owning eight shares in the bank. The situation is paradoxical when an employee, either the president or a shareholder with eight shares, challenges the decisions of the General Assembly and of the broad named by this Assembly,” stated Victor Turcan.
Administration board member Igor Spoiala said the current board has worked since March and held a number of meetings. “The bank’s executive probably didn’t like the active involvement of the board members and thus didn’t agree with a number of our decisions. The management sometimes ignored directly the board. Our findings led to the decision not to extend the contracts with the executive management,” he stated.
Member Aliona Timofeenco, who heads an internal commission of inquiry, said the members of the administration board set the objective of protecting the money of the depositors and shareholders. “We consider that the court’s decision is illegal as a completely different decision was taken in similar cases,” she noted.
The members of the administration board of Victoriabank assured the depositors and shareholders of the bank that they will make everything possible to protect their interests and money and to keep the bank at the top of the most successful institutions in Moldova.
