TEMPORARY ADMINISTRATION WAS IMPOSED IN THE BANK OF LUKASHENKO’S OPPONENT

Belgazprombank came under the external control of the republic’s law enforcement system. The National Bank of Belarus imposed a temporary administration which was headed by Nadezhda Ermakova, the ex-chairman of the National Bank of Belarus. The powers of the previous management of Balgazprombank were completely terminated. On 11 June, the bank began to be rocked by the investigative actions and criminal cases. What is the reason for such actions of the Belarusian banking regulator?

Earlier, the structures of Belgazprombank occupied the third place in terms of capitalization among the banks of Belarus. It is known that the main shares in the authorized capital of the bank belonged to the Russian “Gazprom” and “Gazprombank” - 49.8% each. The minorities were Gazprom Transgaz Belarus OJSC (0.266%) and the State Property Committee (0.097%).

According to the official information on the website of the National Bank, the temporary administration has been introduced to protect the interests of depositors and creditors.

The state took exceptional care of the bank, trying to prevent its financial status of the country's leading bank from changing for the worse. The decision was made on 14 June, and was carried out the very next day. A month before this, the large-scale searches, accompanied by the seizure of not only securities worth half a million dollars, but also the pieces of art worth $ 20 million, had been conducted in the bank, and the question of the state “care” was no longer raised by the experts.

During the criminal proceedings, top managers of the bank and the heads of commercial structures of its partners were detained. The devices that made it possible to identify the customers and signatures on documents when working remotely with the foreign accounts (so-called "digital passes") were seized as well.

The experts say that all the events around the bank are politically motivated.

Viktor Bobariko, who announced his candidacy for the presidential election, was the head of the bank until 12 May. And on 12 May, the incumbent president of Belarus announced that he himself had initiated an investigation of the bank’s leadership crimes. Moreover, the investigation, as he said, had been secretly conducted by the law enforcement agencies of the republic for the past four years.

The head of the state control committee released a report stating that the investigating authorities had obtained convincing evidence of Bobariko’s involvement in the offenses. Viktor Dmitrievich himself is confidently gaining more than 285 thousand signatures in his support, declaring that there is no compromising material on him, and cannot be any.

The main founders of Belgazprombank called the investigative actions illegal and announced their intention to provide with all kinds of support for the bank and its authorities.

Whether the Belarusian benefactor will become a president is a big question. However, the words of Alexander Lukashenko, who announced the intention of one of the “Russian oligarchs” to participate in the elections at the beginning of the month are supposed to have been connected precisely with his person.