Robert Zoellick in an interview for 'The Observer' weekly: The World Bank strengthened its aid to Bulgaria in order to save us from the banking crunch of Greece

The World Bank became the first major financial institution, which officially acknowledged the negative effect exerted by the Greek crisis on the global financial system. In an interview for the British newspaper The Observer weekly, World Bank President Robert Zoellick stated that the Institution headed by him has increased lending in order to support the Bulgarian banking system and to prevent the credit crunch in Southeast Europe. Reuters even specified that Bulgaria is one of the most exposed countries to the effects of Greece's banking crunch. Steps have been undertaken to protect the countries of North Africa, which are also vulnerable to the European debt crisis, specified Zoellick.

According to the current official position of the experts from the banking circles in our country, Bulgaria will not be directly affected by the events in our southern neighbour. Greece co-owns four banks in Bulgaria including Postbank, UBB, as well as Alpha Bank and Piraeus Bank. According to the economist Georgi Angelov, they do not have net exposure to Greece. That is, they cannot suffer loses regardless of what happens to Greece. "In the event of the expulsion of Greece from the Euroarea, Greek banks will most likely sell their Bulgarian subsidiaries to a new owner (which happened in recent years to several Bulgarian banks such as Irish and Slovenian, etc.)," ​​wrote the expert in his Internet blog .

Only a few days ago, the CEO of UniCredit Bulbank and Chairman of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria (ABB), Levon Hampartzoumian stated on NTV that the banks operating in Bulgaria are completely safe and there is no risk of financial distress in our country. For the bulk of the Bulgarian bankers, the option for Greece to be expelled from the Euroarea is hypothetical and very unlikely.

"The uncertainty of the markets started increasing the risk for developing economies. The secondary effects complicate the life of all people. As a result, the World Bank focuses on projects which should continue the proper investment, as well as protect the most financially disadvantaged countries in case of a second global crisis," commented Robert Zoellick for The Observer weekly.

He will warn G-20 leaders at the their forthcoming meeting on Monday that Europe is threatened with repeating the effect of the bankruptcy of the investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008, thus causing a second global crisis with serious consequences for developing countries.

I urge these countries to prepare for the consequences of the critical events in the Euroarea, added he.

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