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“As far as we know, the conciliation took place today, so it is likely that the money will reach the employees in the near future. For our part, we are providing assistance and the necessary explanations to the institutions and the bank as soon as possible”, said Jekaterina Govina, Director of the Financial Market Supervision Service of the Bank of Lithuania.
“I am very hopeful that the money will reach the people as soon as possible,” added the central banker.
The sanatorium claims that Swedbank froze its accounts on December 18, citing sanctions imposed by the European Union on the Belarusian regime.
The State Department said Thursday it had approached the bank to pay staff salaries from invoices.
According to J. Govina, the bank informed the Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FNTT) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) about the freezing of accounts on December 21.
According to her, according to the law, to take advantage of the exemption it is necessary to request it from the FNTT, and this institution or financial institution requests an exemption from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“As reported today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an exemption was granted for the payment of the salaries of the sanatorium employees, to subsidize the salaries of the employees during downtime and to fulfill the obligations to the Lithuanian state. When the FNTT agrees with the bank specific payments, these will be paid from the bank account to the recipients, “he said.
Druskininkai Mayor Ričardas Malinauskas stated that he was in constant contact with the management of the sanatorium and had received information about the possible unlocking of an account.
“Since it concerns the people of Druskininkai, I am in constant contact with the management of the sanatorium and today we have contacted each other almost 10 times,” said R. Malinauskas.
However, according to him, on Thursday the bank did not comply with the planned actions, the sanatorium must submit additional documents.
“An order has been given to pay the salaries and taxes of that account, but the bank today explained to the sanatorium management that it will not be able to carry out such operations, because the sanatorium management and administration must deliver to the bank all the account statements on the employees and their salaries, “said the mayor of Druskininkai.
“From what I understood from the director of the sanatorium, it is the bank that will transfer the salary, not the sanatorium itself,” he added.
The accounts of the sanatorium were frozen shortly after the EU imposed sanctions on the Central Economic Board within the presidential administration in Belarus. This board is a shareholder of the sanatorium.
R. Malinauskas and the managers of the sanatorium criticized such a decision. According to them, almost 400 employees of the sanatorium, most of them Lithuanian, may lose income due to the freezing of sanctions.
They criticized the central government for lack of support. R. Malinauskas says that a similar Belarusian sanatorium is operating in Jūrmala, Latvia, but its accounts have not been frozen.
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