Baltic States – CIS, Banks, Economics, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Lithuania

Vladimir Antonov.

Antonov was inclined to agree with Prime Minister's Andrius Kubilius view on a rapid growth of economy and emphasized the stability of Lithuanian national currency litas. On Thursday, the main shareholder of the bank said to ELTA that the financial decline in Lithuania is almost over, however, he stressed that financial institutions and their clients will still feel its effects, writes LETA.

"I completely agree with the prime minister's opinion that the growth will start very soon and the recovery of the economy will be rather rapid. The whole negative situation of economy was not affected by the local market of local companies; the economic crisis in Lithuania, like in the whole region, was triggered by global processes. Now the situation is changing, and we are a part of the global economy", said Antonov. However, the tycoon views the euro introduction and its contribution to economic growth in the region rather skeptically. "In fact, the litas is a rather stable currency and is strongly pegged against the euro; so the euro introduction is a more of the macro-economy issue. Lithuania most probably would manage to integrate into the euro zone very smoothly and the euro introduction should ease the country's financial sector. However, I do not think that it is the key factor for economic growth," said Antonov.

According to him, as the banks are accused of the financial decline, the control of institutions supervising banks will inevitably increase and the clients will be the first ones to feel it. "It is wrong to blame solely the financial sector for the crisis. In any country in the world, a bank is a subject that is controlled. The banks in Lithuania have to comply with all rules set by the regulator. Obviously, the crisis did not start in this field. The requirements of regulators will increase everywhere, mainly due to stricter requirements for risk policy. Now the banks will be controlled much stricter than before 2008. The requirements will become stricter for clients as well, which would not add any flexibility. Any additional cost and outlay requirements will have effects to the banks, as well as to their clients. For instance, more staff would be hired. The end user will definitely feel these consequences," explained Antonov.

Vladimir Antonov said the financial group may expand its banking business to Sweden.

Shareholders in SNORAS will take a decision on the expansion to Sweden this year.

SNORAS also will focus on expanding in Estonia in the next two years, Antonov said.