Depositors in KTB to Protest in Several Bulgarian Cities

Depositors in Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) will rally in several Bulgarian cities this afternoon to demand immediate access to their accounts.

The protest action, organized through social networks, has been scheduled to start at 5:30pm local time in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas,Veliko Tarnovo, Sliven and Ruse.

It aims to urge Bulgaria’s central bank to move faster on the possible reopening of the bank which it placed under special supervision in June following a bank run that saw one-fifth of deposits withdrawn from KTB in a week. The period of special supervision can last up to six months.

Since then depositors in the bank have had no access to their money to pay for necessities like medical treatment, paying student allowances or buying property.

The BNB last week partially unfroze KTB’s operations, allowing the bank’s debtors to repay their loans.

Earlier this month, Bulgaria's Ombudsman urged the BNB to be more flexible in managing its restrictions on KTB to alleviate the plight of the bank’s clients.

Meanwhile, clients of KTB have set up a Committee for Protection of Banking and Financial Stability in Sofia in a bid to help rescue the troubled lender.

The committee will assist the expert commission comprising representatives of employers and unions in drafting measures aimed at stabilizing the bank, BGNES reported.

According to the committee, KTB is not insolvent and can be rescued.

Different interests clash at KTB, financier and ex-finance minister Stoyan Alexandrov commented at the inaugural meeting of the commitee, adding that allegations of some BGN 3 B having been siphoned off the bank were a lie.

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