A SMALL SCALE PROTEST IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING OF THE NBR:  "Mugurel, go the same way as Viorel"

Bank borrowers have asked for the resignation of Mugur Isărescu governor of the NBR, protesting against corruption.

By the time the newspaper went to print, about 100 people had gathered in front of the NBR building and were shouting "Hand in your resignation" and "Mugurel, go the same way as Viorel".

Andreea Cristoforidis, one of the administrators of the Group of CHF Borrowers (CHF), told us: "We only want the resignation of Isărescu, because he failed to protect us from the banking system. We are saying that «Corruption kills» as well, because a number of people have committed suicide and others are on the brink of suicide, because of the banks. First of all, we demand protection from the abusive clauses included in the contracts concluded by these institutions".

In yesterday's press conference, NBR governor Mugur Isărescu stressed that this is not the first time that the borrowers have picketed the NBR headquarters, and he mentioned that he was open to dialogue, just like he has been until now: "They have been here before and I never turned down dialogue, each time it was requested, quite the contrary! If they have clear views, we will try to have a dialogue with them, in a manner that we want to be as civilized as possible, with us making the effort of not getting overly technical, of simplifying the discussion as much as possible, but without trivializing the explanations, the discussions and the limits that the central bank has. When we had our press conference on the issue of loans denominated in foreign currencies, in general, and of those in Swiss francs, in particular, our motto was to inform correctly, to provide quality information, in a balanced manner. This is what we are going to do this time as well".

The statement of the head of the NBR made the borrowers even angrier, as they have claimed several times already that Mugur Isărescu is "bears the brunt of the blame" for "the bankruptcy of the Romanian banking system and being the defender of foreign banks".