Serbian Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic has said on Wednesday that Serbia does not owe EUR 300 million to depositors of the now defunct Ljubljanska Banka and Invest Banka, and that the government is preparing a reply to the Council of Europe, which urged Belgrade to enable the repayment of old savings as soon as possible.
Serbia does not owe anyone EUR 300 million. The depositors had savings accounts with commercial banks, and their claims are against the banks, Vujovic told a press conference at the Serbian Association of Managers (SAM).
The government received a letter from the Council of Europe urging Serbia to act upon the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights and promptly adopt a law which would make possible the repayment of old savings, Vujovic said, adding that the option of a wide-ranging legal response to the request is being considered.
We have formed a working body, and I will argue that there is no parallel between Ljubljanska Banka and the system that was introduced in Serbia, where the government acted as a mediator between the banks and the depositors, and offered to reimburse the citizens of Serbia because the banks were unable to meet their obligations to the depositors, he said.
The minister stressed that there is an important legal difference which Serbia will try to demonstrate.
According to the data of the National Bank of Serbia, the country’s public debt for old savings deposits totaled EUR 4.2 billion. Between August 2002 and October 2012, EUR 2.36 billion were reimbursed. The remaining obligations are to be met by the end of 2016. Based on the law on old foreign currency savings, depositors who are Serbian residents but who had savings accounts in banks based in other republics of the former SFRY were not reimbursed.
Source; SerbGov
