Tzvetan Vasilev: Policy on CorpBank 'Destroy House to Build Cabin'

The hottest topic in Bulgaria's political and economic life in the last month is the situation at Corporate Commercial Bank. It has generated an entire stream of comments, opinions and positions that poured into the media. We turned to the bank's majority shareholder Tzvetan Vasilev, who agreed to give his first interview for a Bulgarian online media outlet since the beginning of the crisis. The editorial team of Novinite thanks Mr. Vasilev for the accurate and comprehensive answers to the questions and is ready to provide room for other views or positions on the issue.

Mr. Vasilev, what possible outcome do you see in the nearest future of the situation you and Corporate Commercial Bank AD are put in?

Corporate Commercial Bank AD and I have been put in this situation as a result of a perfectly organized setup with the participation of certain media as well as employees of the Bulgarian prosecution service and employees of the Bulgarian National Bank who are used as tools by certain political circles. The visible part of the plan involves the destruction of Corpbank and my reputation and the acquisition of Corpbank’s enticing assets, which could be sold to investors of their choice. The invisible part of the plan is the attempt to eliminate the debts of certain individuals supported by these political circles. This elimination could have been carried out either by absolving the debts or melting them away by causing financial instability and subsequent hyperinflation in the country. The scenario of melting debts away by creating an avalanche of bank runs in Bulgaria did not work. Now the masterminds are left with the less ambitious option of absolving only their debts at Corpbank by artificially causing its insolvency.