"The Deposit Insurance Fund is rather empty. All the more so after Snoras' problems were resolved. Therefore, the state treasury may have to lend the fund a certain amount of money it will need to compensate for the asset shortfall in transferring Ūkio Bankas' liabilities to Šiaulių Bankas. Based on our preliminary estimates, that loan may amount to 500 million-600 million litas," he told LRT Radio.
The minister said that the authorities would try to finance the so-called "bad" part of loans by selling Ūkio Bankas' assets.
"The bad part will go bankrupt, and the bankruptcy procedure involves finding all those assets that are located in several countries of the world. (These assets) are sold at the best prices and the money is returned to the Deposit Insurance Fund. In a sense, the fund is investing in salvaging the deposits, expecting to get some return by selling that bad part," he said.
The central bank's board on Monday decided to split Ūkio Bankas into "good" and "bad" parts and authorize its temporary administrator to negotiate with Šiaulių Bankas on a takeover of the "healthy" part.
Ūkio Bankas was Lithuania's sixth-biggest bank by assets until the central bank suspended its operations on February 12.
