Now Wschodni Bank Cukrownictwa faces problems

Twelve banks on Monday formed a consortium to capitalize Wschodni Bank Cukr ownictwa (WBC) in Lublin to save it from the verge of bankruptcy. The bigge st banks financially involved in WBC, PKO BP and Pekao SA, will buy, togeth er with ten other banks, shares in WBC. According to Rzeczpospolita, the Ba nk Guarantee Fund (BFG) will provide these banks with a preferential loan f or the purchase of WBC shares. This solution will cost the banks far less t han would have been the case if it went under. WBC has deposits equal to zl. 940 million; in the event of bankruptcy, the other banks would have to cont ribute to a guarantee fund for their customers. On Monday night the Banking Supervisory Commission were to hold a meeting to discuss the problems of the Lublin-based bank. It is possible that the Commission will introduce a comm issary management for the bank. This would allow the bank to be efficiently recapitalized and put back on its feet. WBC recorded a zl. 32 million loss in 2000 and zl. 9.6 million loss in 2001. Another bank, Bialystok-based Bank Wschodni, also facing financial problems, found that customers panicked and withdraw zl. 14 million from the bank on Friday alone. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B7; Prawo i Gospodarka, p.5) M.T.