Austria's Raiffeisen does not rule out interest in Serbia's Komercijalna Banka

Komercijalna Banka AD Skopje

13/03/2019 09:52

VIENNA, March 13 (Reuters) - Serbia and its banking market
have developed well in recent years and still show potential,
the chief executive of Austria's Raiffeisen Bank  RBIV.VI  said
when asked whether the lender might be interested in buying
Komercijalna Banka  KMBN.BEL .
    Serbia wants to privatise the Balkan country's
second-largest lender as part of a programme between Belgrade
and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2012QA
    The Austrian lender, which operates across eastern Europe
from the Czech Republic to Russia and down to the Balkans is
considering acquisitions to expand in its main markets.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2101DH 
    It holds assets of 2.5 billion euros ($2.82 billion), or 1.8
percent of its total, in Serbia.
    "You cannot say anything regarding Komercijalna now... you
can only say something when the owners decide if there is a
(sale) process, and what the process will look like," Johann 
Strobl said at a news conference in Vienna. 
    "The country itself and its banking market are attractive."

($1 = 0.8853 euros)

 (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle, editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((kirsti.knolle@thomsonreuters.com; +43 1 53112 255; Reuters
Messaging: kirsti.knolle.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net    
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