Baltic States – CIS, Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Interview, Legislation, Lithuania

"I think, I should really consider that very seriously," Baranauskas told the daily "Respublika" in an interview, writes LETA/ELTA.

The former president's business partner Vladimir Antonov confirmed that he and Baranauskas had brought their passports to municipality officers.

"It proves that we are not hiding as we are neither thieves nor bandits. When Lithuania takes civilized measures to question us, we will come," the former major shareholder of Snoras Bankas, Vladimir Antonov, said in a phone conversation with the daily "Respublika" from London on Wednesday.

Baranauskas believes that the current bosses in the bank will act as they want, while turning him into a scapegoat.

"It seems that they wanted to detain me because they did not have any other allegations against me. No allegations were brought against me when one or two Snoras employees were questioned who all remain at large. I have not been given any writ, but as soon as I said I would come and suggested them to talk to may lawyers, the arrest warrant was issued for me. Because of this, my life is in danger as one day, let us say, they can find me hanged in my cell, beaten by other inmates or find lying on the floor dead from a heart attack. They want that I would not speak though I said that I would be speaking about everything. If I were silent, then it would be possible to put all the blame on me and my partner Antonov. As it was said by [the President of Lithuania] Dalia Grybauskaite, Snoras was not a Lithuanian bank, but it was said only when it was useful to say that. Yes, my partner is Russian and I think that these actions first and foremost target Antonov to destroy him and his business. But I am Lithuanian, I was born and I grew up in Lithuania. All the staff employees of the bank are Lithuanians and there were no foreign nationals at the board of Snoras. We built everything by ourselves. It is an attempt to create a big scandal before the parliamentary elections," ex-manager of Snoras explained.

Answering a question on who managed Snoras Bankas, Barnauskas stated: "Board Chairman and President Raimondas Baranauskas. A Lithuanian who was born and raised in Lithuania".

He continued: "But Grybauskaite, who supported the nationalization, implied that such operations are allowed for a "non-Lithuanian" bank. Scandinavian banks in Lithuania are surely not Lithuanian, but there have always been talks that Snoras should sell itself to them because we were the major rival to the Scandinavians in the Baltic States".

"I will fight wherever I can. I am a strong person. I want to guarantee that whatever happens, I will not take my own life," concluded Baranauskas.