 Former headquarters of Vilnius Land Bank (present-day headquarters of Bank of Lithuania on the Gediminas Avenue) | |
Native name | Виленский земельный банк Wileński Bank Ziemski |
|---|---|
| Company type | Joint-stock company |
| Industry | Banking |
| Genre | Mortgage bank |
| Founded | 9 August 1872 |
| Defunct | 1939 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | Vilnius (Vilna, Wilno) , Russian Empire (later Second Polish Republic) |
Area served | Northwestern Krai Vilnius Region |
Key people |
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| Products | Long-term mortgages |
| Total assets | 114 million złoty (1936) |
| Total equity | 6.3 million złoty (1936) |
Number of employees | 131 (1915) |
Vilnius Land Bank (Lithuanian: Vilniaus žemės bankas, Polish: Wileński Bank Ziemski, Russian: Виленский земельный банк) was the first bank established in Vilnius, present-day Lithuania. It was a private joint-stock mortgage bank serving the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. Its mission was to provide loans collateralized by real estate to manor owners (agriculture) and city residents (industry). As it could not accept deposits, the bank issued mortgage bonds to raise funds for the loans. The bank was established in 1872 after a banking reform. It was one of eleven land banks operating in the Empire, and grew to be one of the largest. Despite several economic crises, particularly the one caused by the Russian Revolution of 1905, the outstanding loans grew from 5 million rubles in 1874 to 148.8 million in 1912. Both Lithuanians and Russians complained that the bank was controlled by and served the Polish interests.[1] During World War I, the bank was evacuated to Petrograd (Saint Petersburg). After the war, in 1920, it returned to Vilnius, which became part of the Second Polish Republic. It continued to operate at diminished volumes until the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939.