MINSK, 3 August (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with head of the interim administration of OAO Belgazprombank Nadezhda Yermakova to discuss the situation in the bank and thank her for the work done, BelTA has learned.
“I have invited you for a public meeting (I have been meaning to do this for a long time, but I had enough work here), first of all, to thank you for helping out at a difficult time and actually saving the bank and its staff,” said the head of state.
He noted that Nadezhda Yermakova is well aware of the situation in the bank. “I would like to see order in the bank. The bank cannot be ruined. If Gazprom withdraws, fine. The labor collective is there, the skills are there, the opportunities will come. The National Bank will support this bank: these are our people, our enterprises are served there. Indeed, they got into a difficult situation because of corruption schemes. But we have the experience of keeping banks not only afloat but fully operational,” the Belarusian president said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said that there is no catastrophic situation in the bank according to Chairman of the State Control Committee Ivan Tertel. “You, together with [Deputy Chairperson of the National Bank Ilona] Lednitskaya, were able to stabilize the situation. I am grateful to her as well. Convey my gratitude to her please. I will do my best to ensure that neither people who have deposits in the bank nor our companies lose anything. On behalf of the state we will do everything possible,” the president said.
“I do not see any interest from Gazprom. Although, when we talked with the Russian president, he told me that the bank can work, that its owners are not poor (I am quoting his words). He told me that if I need this bank, then we need to do everything necessary to keep the bank running. I said that we were all for it but the bank needs to work according to our laws. Thank you once again for what has been done in this bank,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
