By Tsvetelia Tsolova
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party, tipped to win a snap election next month, urged the central bank to hold serious talks with investors willing to rescue Corporate Commercial Bank, which was hit by a run on deposits.
GERB accused the central bank of being too slow in offering a solution for the troubled lender, the country's fourth largest.
June's bank run prompted the central bank to seize control and shut down its operations, pending the outcome of an audit due to be completed next month. The bank crisis is Bulgaria's biggest since the 1990s.
"We express our discontent about the way the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) is managing the special supervision over Corpbank and Bank Victoria (a unit of Corpbank)," Borisov said in an open letter to the central bank governor.
"We appeal to the central bank to pay serious attention to all potential investors that have expressed interest in capitalising the bank so that the use of public funds may be as small as possible."
On Friday, Vienna-based EPIC consultancy said all major shareholders in the bank, along with other potential investors, are willing to recapitalise the bank. EPIC also proposed a meeting in Sofia next week with the central bank to request that the consultancy conduct a full due diligence on the lender.
EPIC said in its statement it had made its approach on behalf of the bank's major shareholders - Bulgarian Tsvetan Vassilev, an Omani sovereign wealth fund and Russian VTB Bank.
"This proposal for a sustainable solution is in the best interest of Corpbank, its clients, partners and shareholders as well as in the interest of the stability of the Bulgarian banking sector as such," the consultancy said.
Vassilev owns 50.6 percent of Corpbank, the Omani wealth fund holds 30 percent and VTB owns about 9 percent.
This is the first indication that VTB is also interested in the bank's rescue, after a statement in late June that it would not provide liquidity or capital to Corpbank.
The central bank has said it has received EPIC's letter, which also proposed the rescue plan should meet European Union rules on state aid, and would consider it.
The central bank's initial rescue plan for Corpbank -- transferring healthy assets into a new, nationalised bank, and declaring the rest of it insolvent -- has become snarled up in pre-election political infighting ahead of the Oct. 5 ballot.
The failure of the plan prompted the regulator to order a full audit of the lender, to be completed by Oct. 20. Analysts say no solution is likely before a new parliament is in place.
Hundreds of angry Corpbank depositors have complained to the central bank, demanding access to their accounts. Local economists accuse the central bank of taking too long to recognise the scale of Corpbank's problems.
The collapse has also hit foreign investors. Holders of a $150 million (£92.4 million) Corpbank bond have threatened legal action against the state after the lender failed to make the final payment on it when it matured in August.
An Alpha Research poll showed 31 percent of Bulgarians blame politicians for Corpbank's problems and 29 percent say central bank controls were too lax.
In an unusual appeal to save the lender, Bulgaria's chief prosecutor has said it had operated for years with the protection of the state, which kept large deposits there, and under inefficient control by the central bank.
An initial international audit at Corpbank indicated malpractices and lack of sufficient information on loans worth 3.5 billion levs (£1.4 billion). Prosecutors have charged its main shareholder, Tsvetan Vassilev, with embezzlement.
Vassilev, currently in neighbouring Serbia, has denied any wrongdoing. He was locked in a public feud with an influential businessman at the time of the run and has said the attack on the bank was a plot hatched by his rivals.
Vassilev has sought to overturn an international arrest warrant, pledging to return to Bulgaria and work for the bank's rescue, but on Friday a Bulgarian court rejected his appeal.
(Editing by Toby Chopra)