After nearly four exhausting months of uncertainty, speculations and special supervision carried out by the Bulgarian National Bank over the Corporate Commercial Bank, the results of the financial inspection in this bank have finally become public and turned out to be very close to the darkest forecasts of the financial experts: the financial gap amounts to nearly EUR 2 billion, i.e. EUR 2 billion was handed out as unsecured loans and the debtors would probably never return this money. Moreover, this money was lent to companies connected to the owner of the CCB without having any real business. The scandalous disclosures also read that the good assets of the Corporate Commercial Bank amount to EUR 1 billion only and meanwhile owes to clients and depositors reach over EUR 3 billion, which practically means that in the best case scenario the depositors can receive only one third of the total amount. The rest of the money - EUR 2 billion must be paid by the Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund or by the state budget, because according to the current legislation, all deposits up to EUR 100,000 are guaranteed.

The financial inspectors showed a whole list of infringements, which stay behind the financial collapse of the Corporate Commercial Bank. They revealed a series of bad practices used by the bank’s management, some of which can be outlined as criminal. That is why the case regarding the CCB will be brought to the country’s Prosecutor’s Office.

However, commentators remind that most of these misappropriations should have been found out on time and intercepted by the almighty supervision of the Bulgarian central bank, if this body did its duties properly. The first doubts regarding the bank supervision appeared some four months ago when the Prosecutor’s Office took measures against the head of the Banking Supervision of the Bulgarian National Bank and he was suspended from his position. Thus, some rumors reading that this man was connected with the bank in question and did a lot to hide the illegal practices of the bank’s management and its major shareholder Tsvetan Vassilev started to circulate in public space. Let us remind that on this occasion, the Bulgarian businessman in question left this country quickly before the scandal had actually erupted and since then has been flooding the Bulgarian media and institutions with vindications, accusations of conspiracy and promises that everything would end soon, but meanwhile has not dared showing up in Sofia, although he is officially wanted by the Interpol.

The Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank announced in the very beginning of the crisis in Corporate Commercial Bank that this case was going to be solved in correspondence with the Bulgarian legislation. Now, it looks like he has actually kept his promise, despite the multiple warnings of the European institutions that this case had to be resolved in correspondence with the EU legislation which prevails over the Bulgarian one. Later, the European Commission initiated an infringement procedure against Bulgaria, because this country failed to observe the regulations of the European Union, which read that the depositors in this bank had to receive their money of up to EUR 100,000 a long time ago. Even the ultimatum of the European banking authorities sent to this country several days ago, which reads that the depositors should receive their guaranteed money immediately, could not encourage the Bulgarian National Bank to act more bravely and undertake measures: either to start a bankruptcy procedure, or rescue the financial institution. On the contrary, even after the public announcement of the report of the financial inspection the central bank says that it needs more information and is about to pass the ball to the new National Assembly in the first day of its establishment. The latter does not fill people with hopes that this case would be solved soon and would not calm the angry depositors down who keep organizing street protests almost every day now to demand their money invested at the Corporate Commercial bank.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov