Marius Gheorghe, a 27-year old man from the city of Ploiesti, who used to work in the banking system, was fired In January this year after he had failed to pay his loan in Swiss Francs since 2010, due to increasing rates.

Representatives of the bank which gave him the loan repeatedly called him at work and finally took over his salary. He was then fired, reports local Mediafax.

Marius took a CHF 10,900 loan in 2007 to buy a car. The currency rate was RON 2.1/CHF back then, which meant that the monthly rate was about RON 450 (EUR 100).

The rate increased from RON 450 to RON 650 by 2009 and this was already a financial challenge for Marius. He stopped paying his installment in 2010.

The bank representatives started calling his employer, claiming he did not pay his debts.

“Although I had good results at work, they fired me because the bank was calling me all the time,” the man said.

Another kind of protest: Romanian pays part of Swiss Franc loan installment with coins.

editor@romania-insider.com