Banka Baltija

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Banka Baltija
IndustryBanking, Financial services
Founded1993 (1993)
DefunctJune 12, 1995 (1995-06-12)
FateBankrupt
Headquarters
Riga
,
Latvia
Area served
Latvia
Key people
Aleksandrs Lavents (Chairman); Tālis Freimanis (President)
Number of employees
1,300 (1994)

Banka Baltija was a Latvian bank, that in the early 1990s was a leader in Latvian banking system. It was founded in 1993 and closed down due to bankruptcy in June 1995.

History[]

Banka Baltija, associated with the father and son Emil Lavents (born 1923, Odessa, Ukrainian SSR) and Aleksandrs Lavents (born 9 August 1959, Anapa, USSR which is now Russia) respectively, was founded in 1993, and had a very fast development.[1] It became the largest bank in Latvian by offering high interest rates to savers and attracted a large number of clients.[2] Its assets rose from US$25 million from 1993, to 242 million dollars in 1994, reaching 500 million in 1995. The bank's capital rose from 1 million in 1993, 20 million in 1994 to 44 million in 1995. The bank employed several Chekists and had links to the “Pārdaugavas” organized crime network.[1][2][3] The G 24 loan to Latvia passed through Banka Baltija.[2] Banka Baltija had 37 branches and 49 settlement groups all over Latvia employing 1300 people. In April 1995, when a financial crisis started, Banka Baltija had 283 million dollars in deposits and had given credits of 283 dollars[dubious – discuss].[citation needed]

Bankruptcy[]

On June 27, 1995, following the bank crisis, The Supreme Court of Latvia (lv) found Banka Baltija insolvent. In 2007 bank's chairman Aleksandrs Lavents and president Tālis Freimanis were sentenced to imprisonment and Alvi Līdums who was accused of very large scale embezzlement was acquitted.[4][5] 3 March 2018 Banka Baltija was excluded from the Registry of Enterprises of Latvia.[5] "Invest-Riga", an auditing firm, liquidated the bank and completed on 22 March 2018.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Brauna, Anita; Galzons, Edgars (19 September 1998). "Divi Laventi" [Two Laventi]. Diena (diena.lv) (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Latvian Bank Woes". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). 30 October 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Paskaidrojumi: 1Emīls Lavents - agrāk nesodīts. Pret viņu krimināllieta nav ierosināta, taču pastāv viedoklis, ka tieši E.Lavents kopā ar dēlu bija ietekmīgākais BB stratēģis. Dienas rīcībā esoša neapstiprināta informācija rāda, ka E.Laventam pieder ASV reģistrēta firma Standart Republic International Ltd, kura līdzdarbojās 8 luksu remontdarbos" [Explanations: 1Emils Lavents - previously unpunished. No criminal case has been initiated against him, but there is an opinion that E. Lavents together with his son was the most influential BB strategist. Unconfirmed information available to the day shows that E. Lavent owns the US-registered company Standart Republic International Ltd, which participated in 8 luxury repairs.]. Diena (diena.lv) (in Latvian). 12 June 1998. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  4. ^ "ECT konstatē cilvēktiesību pārkāpumus Laventa krimināllietas izskatīšanā" [The ECtHR finds human rights violations in Laventa's criminal case]. DELFI (in Latvian). 29 November 2002. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Bēdīgi slavenā Banka Baltija beidzot izslēgta no uzņēmumu reģistra / The notorious Banka Baltija was finally excluded from the business register" (in Latvian). nra.lv. April 3, 2018.
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