The parliamentary committee on Finance has decided to set up an ad hoc committee to consider a combination of the 13 draft laws on the issue of divestitures, with the main aim of finding a mechanism to determine the exact amount of a non-performing loan, which is considered by the members of the Commission, as the biggest obstacle to achieving restructuring and avoiding divestitures
At the same time, as stated by the Chairperson of the Commission, Christiana Erotokritou, in today's session, the Central Bank and the Association of Banks accepted the request for further suspension of sales for main residence up to € 350.000, small commercial property up to € 150.000 and agricultural land also up to € 150.000 until July 31, 2021.
"We are very pleased with this, because the necessary time is given to the Finance Committee, but also to the Legal Committee to regulate in the right and rational way the issue of determining the balance, which is the main reason why not so many restructurings are produced. "We would like to see loans", said Ms. Erotokritou in her statements.
As he said, the goal is not the sale, the goal should be restructuring, and the main reason we do not have the number of restructurings we all want is the dispute between credit institutions over the credit balance because there is a difference in approach to issue of over-indebtedness.
"For this reason, the Finance Committee is setting up an ad hoc committee where all the proposals of the law will be combined and a mechanism will be found, possibly with the contribution of the Finance Commissioner, where the law and the exact balance of the loan will be found quickly, so that "then the restructuring and not the sale can proceed with the agreement of the two parties", he said.
In his statements, DISY MP Onoufrios Koullas said that "DISY primarily wants to be the guarantor of stability so that no more damage is ever done to depositors, unlike some other parties that have operated and are operating destabilizingly."
Saying that the ruling party has in its priorities the consistent borrowers and ensuring the access of young couples to cheap loans, Mr. Koullas added that "before and now we are in favor of targeted measures to support borrowers with MES, in a correct and controlled way so as to avoid the adverse effects I have mentioned above ".
"Today, due to the pandemic, there is a need for a targeted expansion of sales, but not in general and vaguely," he said.
On behalf of AKEL, the Party Spokesman, MP Stefanos Stefanou, expressed satisfaction as he said, with the current stance of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, there are many chances of approving his party's bill to extend the suspension of sales housing and business, due to the pandemic situation.
It would be beneficial during the discussion in the ad hoc committee to formulate joint proposals as much as possible, so that they can be submitted to the Plenary for a vote as soon as possible, he said, adding that changes are needed, in matters such as abusive clauses and bank overdrafts. of the loan balance and the granting of the right to legal aid and unimpeded access of debtors to justice.
MP Kostis Efstathiou, on behalf of EDEK, which has submitted a total of four bills on the issue, said that it is important to ensure access to the courts, to challenge and find the true balance of a MES and to be able to order the Court despite the sale to present a repayment plan.
"Our intention is to present a joint bill as soon as possible because the system of sales, as it has been formed since 2018, has failed miserably, mainly in the social sector," he said.
On behalf of Solidarity, MP Michalis Giorgallas said that the problem is the confirmation of the debt balance of a borrower, recalling that the movement has submitted a proposal to amend the Law on Courts, which is pending in the Committee on Legal Affairs, to create jurisdiction over differences between borrowers and banks or credit unions in relation to the balance of a loan.
"The moment is good", he said, "and Solidarity will participate in the ad hoc committee, in order to group and specialize all the proposals for changing the law of sales with a single goal, to stop the impunity of the sales, to be protected over-indebted borrowers, who will be able to have unhindered access to justice in order to address the threats posed to lenders by the current dominance of banks and credit unions. "
Democrat MP Angelos Votsis also said that the Coalition calls for the suspension of all sales while the decrees are in force due to the coronavirus pandemic and added that the Coalition proposed the solution of the arbitration, in order to reach an agreement between borrowers and banks. the exact balance of a NIS, while there is also a proposal to do so by a court decision.
"The aim is, in one way or another, or both, to overcome the acceptable amount that people owe, especially after the unacceptable abusive clauses for which the first decision was made by a Court and we are waiting for the Judge's decrees. which will be decisive for all such cases ", he concluded.
On behalf of ELAM, MP Linos Papagiannis said that the movement has requested the extension of the suspension of the divestitures until the end of June and that there is a possibility for the borrowers to appeal to the Court against the divestiture process.
There is an urgent need to correct this injustice and the legislation that DISY has voted together with DIKO to change immediately, he said.
The MP of the Movement of Ecologists - Citizens' Cooperation George Perdikis said that the Ecologists will participate in the ad hoc committee, with the aim of reaching a solution to two issues before the elections, the suspension of sales and the inclusion in this measure of other cases, such as agricultural property, and secondly to restore the legal status as it was before the 2018 amendment, in order to ensure the right of borrowers to go to court and freeze the process until their debt confirmation request is considered.
"We have been given hope by the government and the CBC that these two issues can be discussed," he said.