Wealthy Dutch savers who lost large amounts of money in the crash of Icelandic internet bank Icesave are sceptical about Reykjavik’s pledge to start repayments this summer.

The association of duped savers, Icesaving, said on Monday it took these promises “with a huge pinch of salt”. Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager and his deputy Frans Weekers on the other hand were quite positive about the Icelandic government’s announcement.

Minister De Jager confirmed on Friday that the “bigger part of the debt by far” could be repaid from the estate of Landsbanki, Icesave’s parent company. Icesaving called the pledge “a typical sample of Icelandic PR” intended as a sop to keep its creditors quiet.

Icesaving says it represents 250 savers who lost a total of 25 million euros in the Icesave disaster. Savers who had much more than 100,000 euros in their account lost most of their money after Icesave went belly up.

The Dutch government lent Iceland 1.3 billion euros so that savers with savings of up to 100,000 could be reimbursed. The Dutch government has since been trying to reclaim this money from the Icelandic government.

(gsh/rk/nc)

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