Vladimir Antonov planned to buy a bank in Estonia
15.05.2012, 14:55Indrek Põder, former official of the national security agency KAPO who was arrested earlier this year on suspicion of large-scale bribery told the investigators about the plan of Russian oligarch Vladimir Antonov, former owner of Snoras Bank in Lithuania and Krajbanka in Latvia, to acquire Krediidipank in Estonia, writes Postimees.
Antonov’s plans could have easily worked because the Bank of Moscow was interested to sell its 40-percent stake in Krediidipank.
Antonov had accepted the 23 million-euro bid that the Bank of Moscow asked for its holding in Krediidpank, but the deal failed when a bitter conflict broke out between the current shareholder and executives of Krediidipank.
Põder said that he offered to solve the dispute and his objective was to secure a job in some bank’s financial supervisory department.
“My interest and objective was to find a job in the internal auditing department of some bank,” said Põder, admitting that one of the most likely employers would have been Krediidipank.
Põder who, when still a KAPO official, tried to negotiate a deal between the owners of Krediidipank said that he got to know the people involved in Krediidpank case when KAPO started to investigate the purchase and sale of the bank’s shares.
Põder said that, according to one plan, the new chairman of Krediidpank was going to be Oleg Smoli, a financier who was also his friend and hunting partner.
In their first meeting, for instance, Smoli lent Põder 5,000 euros so that he could build a roof to the sauna in Põder’s hunting estate in South Estonia.
Põder has admitted that he got 35,000 euros for the Krediidipank case.