Serbia has offered Russia’s Sberbank to become a strategic partner in Nova Agrobanka, which was set up earlier this year after the central bank cancelled the licence of its predecessor – troubled Agrobanka, TV and radio broadcaster RTS reported, quoting Serbia’s natural resources, mining and spatial planning minister Milan Bacevic as saying. He was speaking earlier this week from Moscow, where he met Russian state officials. Bacevic said that Sberbank’s answer on the proposal is expected in the coming ten days. “The board of directors has adopted a decision, under which Sberbanka will not buy anything in the coming two years – yet, we are not offering them a sales deal but a strategic partnership,” Bacevic explained.
Sberbank entered Serbia earlier this year after wrapping up in February the takeover of 100% of Volksbank International (VBI) and its subsidiaries in the region. The bank’s deputy head, Sergey Gorkov, said last month that Sberbank has already invested EUR 100mn in Serbia and plans to invest as much by the end of 2012. In July, Gorkov said that the Russian bank plans no other acquisitions in Serbia and will focus on achieving organic growth. He added back then that the local subsidiary will represent a bridge for business cooperation between Serbia on one side and Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan on the other.
Serb central bank licensed 100% state-owned Nova Agrobanka at end-May after revoking the licence of Agrobanka, which had failed to recover its financial state even after spending six months under the monetary authority’s receivership. Nova Agrobanka was transferred all Agrobanka deposits, as well as part of its obligations. The state has issued three-year bonds worth EUR 85mn in order to get over the ownership of Nova Agrobanka via the Deposit Insurance Agency, while the Agency allocated EUR 5mn as initial capital and further EUR 25mn to secure the new bank’s liquidity. In the meantime, Serb police has arrested a dozen of people, including former high-ranking Agrobanka officials, over violating legal and internal regulations and causing nearly EUR 300mn worth of damage to the bankrupt lender.
Source Balkans
