The government had to bail Parex Bank out in late 2008, when the former owners were forced by financial difficulties to sell the company to the government.
RIGA - The Latvian government Tuesday approved a Finance Ministry proposal that would restrict the ability of former Parex Bank owners Valerijs Kargins and Viktors Krasovickis from making large sums of money off interest on their accounts.
The government gave the go-ahead to the Law on Credit Institutions, which would restrict the amount of money that shareholders can receive from banks that get state aid.
Krasovickis attacked the motion, saying it would destroy confidence in the bank and that it was a politically motivated motion spurred on by the ruling party's ambitions to garner popularity ahead of elections.
"It is unfortunate that, because of the elections and saving couple dozen thousands of lats, a bank is being destroyed that used to be the best bank in the country, and billions of lats are being lost," he was quoted by national news agency LETA as saying.
The bill will still have to pass through parliament before it becomes law.
Parex Banka posted a pre-audit loss of LVL 107.5 million last year. It was bailed out by the government in late 2008, when financial difficulties forced the owners to hand the controlling shares over to the government for the symbolic amount of one lat. It is currently the only bank that is receiving state aid.
Please enter your username and password.
2024 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy
