Word: jugoskandik
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Shock waves from the failure of Vasiljevic's Jugoskandik Bank continue to rumble in Belgrade. Thousands of furious depositors took to the streets to demand their money back and stirred panicky runs on other banks, leaving Belgrade as frenzied over finance as over the latest Western sanctions. When Vasiljevic fled to Israel at the height of the Jugoskandik scandal, the departure only fueled his ever growing legend. No sooner had he left town than local papers breathlessly reported rumors that a Tel Aviv-bound Sabena Airlines flight had made an unscheduled stop in Belgrade and taken off with bags bulging...
...very size of the Jugoskandik failure remains a mystery. While some news reports said the bank held $2 billion in deposits, Vasiljevic has scoffed at that figure. "Do you know how much volume $2 billion would have?" Vasiljevic demanded during a TIME interview in the Israeli town of Herzlia. "It's about 86 cubic meters. We had $68 million in the bank...
...bank exposed the financial chaos that has engulfed what remains of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) as the Serbian war machine rolls on in Bosnia. Ravaged by 20,000% hyperinflation whipped up by United Nations sanctions, the desperate Serbs on the home front have turned to shady banks like Jugoskandik to help put food on the table. In return for deposits of hard currencies such as U.S. dollars and German marks, Jugoskandik paid up to 15% in monthly interest. Customers could thus earn $150 a month on a $1,000 deposit, or about four times the wages of an average worker...
...Serbia, some jilted Jugoskandik customers have shown surprising sympathy + for the absent banker. "Jezda did not flee because of bankruptcy but for political reasons," says a member of the creditors' committee. "A lot of our money was given to the city of Belgrade and to Serbia. They should all return what they have...
Nonetheless, the banker's deals have helped prop up Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. When heating-oil supplies fell dangerously low last October, the banker loaned Belgrade $2.5 million to bolster the city's depleted reserves before winter. He now wants the loan repaid directly to Jugoskandik depositors...
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