02 June 2004 17:06
Russian depositors bare bottoms in protest over lost savings
[Presenter] Half-naked people in the centre of Moscow. A protest against the [Russian] Central Bank, which has
withdrawn Sodbiznesbank's licence over allegations of money laundering, was held today. The demonstrators decided
to use a non-verbal method of expressing their opinion regarding the liquidation of the bank. Vladimir Kobyakov reports
from the scene.
[Correspondent] Sodbiznesbank's new management has started getting to know its depositors. Since this morning,
everyone of the bank's 70,000 customers has had the right to fill out an application. The bank's temporary
management requires customers to write who they are and how much money they would like to be returned. People in the
queue are filling out the applications in their own way: they also write what they would like to spend their deposits
on.
[Unnamed customer] They are my last savings that I've put aside for my funeral.
[Correspondent] People began joining the queue during the night. People who came in the morning were given a number
around the 3,000 mark.
[Unnamed customer] I got number 2,917. There's not much point in joining the queue. It's like the old
story: either the sultan or the donkey will die first. By the time my turn comes around, a lot might have changed.
[Correspondent] By midday another queue had formed at Sodbiznesbank's wall. These people did not have money in
the bank, but they drew the attention of all the deposit holders with their actions. [Group of people bare their
bottoms]
Entertainer Oleg Nazarov coordinated the alternative queue. He said that it was his way of fighting for his
mother-in-law who had savings in Sodbiznesbank.
[Nazarov] All these bankers, Central Bankers and bastard bankers wanted to strip us of our possessions. Well, here we
are stripped bare. They wanted to see us naked and now they can. [Passage omitted: parliamentary official says
depositors should have access to information about banks' finances]
[Correspondent] The bank's temporary management say on their web site that they will accept all applications
from deposit holders. They will then add up the claims and see if there is enough money to pay them. So far the
temporary management have received applications from 100 depositors.
[Editor's note: the Russian Central Bank withdrew Sodbiznesbank's licence on 13 May over money laundering
allegations]
[NTV] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
