Three banks in Serbia will soon change their owners

Text published: 05.07.2018 9:19

There are 28 banks operating in Serbia, and for part of this year, it is certain that it will change ownership or start selling. In the process of finalization, the sale of Russian VTB Bank in Serbia, the privatization of Komercijalna Banka is underway, while Telenor Bank is waiting for the NBS approval of the agreed sale.

In total, the banking sector made a profit of 63.6 billion dinars last year, which is the best result since 2008. Nevertheless, the net interest income of the operating sector has decreased by 2.4%, while other operating income of banks increased 3.3 times to 20.5 billion dinars and were largely due to balance sheet changes after the takeovers.

– In addition, the significantly slower rate of problem loan write-offs from previous years, as well as the collection of certain impaired investments, have significantly increased the final outcome of the banking sector. Last year, only seven banks recorded negative activity. The trend towards big bank dominance continued in 2017, with the top ten banks accounting for more than 80% of market share – the conclusion was published in the "Finance top" publication of "Business and Finance" magazine.

. inevitable and next.

VTB bank

According to Blic Biznis, the bank VTB does not leave Serbia, but is in the process of finalizing its sale. The Moscow-based VTB group has announced its intention to seek a quality investor for its bank in Serbia, and this intention has existed for two years. In 2016, Andrej Kostin, director of VTB, announced that the state bank was planning to sell the representative office in Serbia. He then pointed out that foreign and Russian investors were interested in buying. Kostin then estimated the value of the bank at 10 million euros, reported Sputnik. VTB Bank arrived in Serbia in 2013, when it was bought by the Bank of Moscow, which started operating in our company in 2008. It was the first bank with us with Russian capital

Komercijalna banka

According to Blic Biznis, Jorgovanka Tabakovic, the governor of the National Bank of Serbia, plans to sell the entire shares of Komercijalna banka, and the main role in the preparation of privatization is the management, it is to say the shareholders of the bank. The privatization of Komercijalna Banka is underway

As stipulated by the regulations, the Ministry of Finance submits the draft NBS tender document to give an opinion on the proof of the financial situation and the reputation of the potential acquirer of the bank. According to the latest data, the Republic of Serbia at Komercijalna Banka holds 41.74% of the capital, 24.43% is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the IFC Fund 10.15%.

Telenor Bank

Telenor Group has signed a contract for the sale of 100% of Telenor Bank's stake in PPF Group. The acquisition of majority stake in Telenor Bank by the PPF group is conditioned by the Company and Regulatory Agreement of the National Bank of Serbia, which constitutes the most important step of the process, as well as by the Commission for the Protection of Competition and Protection of Competition of the Republic of Montenegro. an investment group in Central and Eastern Europe that invests in different sectors, such as banking and consumer financial services, telecommunications, mining, real estate and biotechnology. The PPF group is present in 22 countries on three continents and has assets of more than 38 billion euros.

Merger between UniCredit and Société Générale

If it happens in Europe, it will happen in Serbia. As the Financial Times reported last month, the Italian Unikredit Bank and the French Societe Generale plan to merge, which would lead to the integration of the two largest European financial institutions. Jean-Pierre Mastia, executive director of the company Unicredit, a Frenchman who worked for Societe Generale, has been thinking about this idea for several months, writes the Financial Times in reference to anonymous sources familiar with the situation. SocGen management also considers the possibility of merging. The negotiations, however, are still at an early stage. From Unikredit, they said in the statement for "Bloomberg" that they would never comment on rumors and speculations, while in SocGen they denied "any negotiations of the administration about the potential merger with Unikredit ". Mastia, director of the New York-based agency in September, said that Unikredit had no plans to sell its assets or acquisitions in 2019.