Șor Promised to Pay Back 13 billion lei to the Moldovan Budget. What Are the Conditions

The chairman of the Șor party, the former chairman of the administrative council of Banca de Economii, Ilan Șor stated that the shareholders of the three closed problem banks are ready to pay back the13 billion lei to the Moldovan budget which the National Bank allocated for their salvation. Șor stated it within a Skype press conference on March 4. Șor said that the National Bank allocated 13 billion lei to the banks that were controlled by it. The politician assures that no one asked officials about this. “It was not necessary to save us, we ourselves would methodically repay all loans through the court,” said Șor. He appealed to the government and parliament and demanded that the licenses be returned to Unibank, Banca de Economii and Banca Sociala. “There is only one way: to return this money [13 billion lei]. And now I speak as a representative of three banks. “We strongly recommend and insist on returning the licenses and assets to the three banks,” Șor said. He stressed out that in one year, banks will be able to return the money, demanding it from those who took loans from banks. If the licenses are not returned, Șor threatened to court. “Former shareholders are preparing a lawsuit for intended, illegal destruction of three banks and the withdrawal of licenses. This is a losing business for the country,” Șor said. Șor also told his version of the theft from Moldovan banks. He emphasized that officials of the National Bank not only “brought the money themselves without the request of commercial banks”, but also started distributing these funds. According to him, the first beneficiaries of these funds from the National Bank were banks controlled by the businessman Veaceslav Platon: the money went to repay deposits to his banks. Șor claims that the money under his control was allocated to the interests of Platon, who had friendly relations with the leadership of the National Bank. Șor assured that Platon's main task was to destroy the competitor. Recall that on June 27, 2017,  the court in the capital’s sector Buiucani sentenced Șor to seven and a half years of prison on the case of the theft of a billion dollars from three Moldovan banks. Șor was found guilty of causing damage on an especially large scale through fraud or breach of trust. Șor and his lawyers appealed against the court ruling in the Appeals Chamber. He was placed under judicial control. In February 2018, the Supreme Court of Justice decided to refer the Șor case to the Cahul Court of Appeal. Since the summer of 2019, Șor has not appeared at meetings on his case. He was put on the international wanted list. According to Interpol as of November 2019, he was located in Israel.