BTR eyed by fellow Turkish Vakiflar

Turkish bank Vakiflar Bankasi is carrying talks with Turkish authorities in order to take over Bayindir Group’s business in Romania – the highly controversial Turkish-Romanian Bank (BTR). Vakiflar officials have already visited the Turkish-Romanian Bank two or three weeks ago, conducted analyses and feasibility studies and approached this issue with Romanian officials.

“Two weeks ago, a top delegation, which also included one of the deputy presidents and the Vakiflar treasury manager, went to the Turkish-Romanian Bank and analysed the situation. They have quite serious intentions and had already done their homework, so to speak. I believe that a verdict concerning this business should be given somewhere in the middle of September,” authorised sources told Ziarul Financiar.

According to the above-quoted sources, around five million dollars would enter the accounts of the Turkish-Romanian Bank. The money is needed to “pay compensations to all customers, but also to avoid BTR’s being declared bankrupt by the National Bank of Romania.”

Contacted by Ziarul Financiar, Mugur atet, head of the media relations department of the National Bank, said “it is still too early for us to be talking about it. We are still waiting for solutions from the Turkish authorities. Everything is in their hands now.”

Vakiflar Banasi is a bank established in 1954, which at the end of last year held 317 subsidiaries and 8,590 employees.

According to the audited report of Vakiflar Bankasi, available on the bank’s site, the bank held assets worth 5,124.8 trillion Turkish lira (7.64 billion dollars) at the end of last year, while net profit for 2000 stood at 52,115 billion Turkish lira (77.8 million dollars). The bank’s share capital stands at 338,890 billion Turkish lira (506 million dollars).

Although the BTR crisis has been visible ever since last fall, the National Bank of Romania has made no decision regarding BTR yet, although BTR has negative capital and does not meet banking norms. That is perhaps because the Turkish-Romanian Bank is rather a political case, to be solved by top-level talks.

BTR now has debts worth approximately 11 million dollars and negative funds amounting to eight million dollars.

The bank is operating through only three subsidiaries – Bucharest, Timisoara and Constanta. Several subsidiaries owned by the bank have been shut down, while others have been ceded in the account of debts to clients.

At the beginning of June, BTR received four million dollars from Turkey, used to cover current expenses, including salaries to the 100 employees.