Repayment of deposits at Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) is set to begin on Thursday, December 4, at nine banks previously announced by the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF).

Security has been stepped up around bank branches and offices across Bulgaria to prevent major tensions over large sums being withdrawn and taken out.

Officials have repeatedly advised depositors not to line up in huge queues rushing to the banks immediately after repayment starts December 4. As of Thursday morning, there have been no reports of crowds lining up to have use of their savings. At some bank offices, however, there were small queues as early as 03:00 EET.

The DIF has introduced a system under which each depositor is to visit a certain bank depending on the last digit of his uniform civil number (UCN). In case of legal entities the bank's name is tied to the last digit of the unified identification code (UIC) or BULSTAT code.

Depositors whose last digit ends with the following numbers should go to:

DSK Bank - 0

United Bulgarian Bank - 1

Eurobank Bulgaria - 2

Raiffeisen Bank Bulgaria - 3

Allianz Bank Bulgaria - 4

UniCredit Bulbank - 5,6

Central Cooperative Bank - 7

CIBANK - 8

First Investment Bank - 9

Within the next five years, depositors at KTB will be able to access their money within the working hours of the respective bank.

All sums of up to BGN 196 000 (EUR 100 000) are guaranteed for a single depositor, regardless of the number of accounts he has opened at Corpbank. This amount of money involves both principal and interests accumulated as of November 6, the date when Bulgaria's fourth-largest lender was declared insolvent.

There are 255 000 depositors whose money in Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) is guaranteed under the law.

The total sum to be reimbursed to asset holders was roughly BGN 3.6 B.

KTB customers will be able to access their money only on workdays due to "technical reasons", despite the initial intention to have the banks open for that purpose on Saturday and Sunday at least during the first few weeks.

Withdrawal of the deposits will be levied, with BGN 3 paid for sums of up to BGN 3000, with the charge growing for bigger amounts.

First transactions to other financial companies (different from KTB, including the bank where the customer is having access to his/her money) will be free for any sum of up to BGN 10 000 and will cost BGN 12  for a sum going beyond.

The exchange rate used to repay deposits held in a currency other than BGN will be calculated as of December 4, regardless of when the customer chooses to operate with his money.

Depositors who have additional questions can use the DIF's website to find out more information or directly visit the FAQ page via the link above.

After KTB has been under conservatorship since June 20, depositors are still waiting for access to their savings.