January 30 (SeeNews) - Parliament approved Bulgaria's participation in the planned capital increase of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank's that will total some 245 million euro ($266.8 million) between 2023 and 2030.
Bulgaria will make an overall contribution of 33.2 million euro in the bank's paid-in capital to retain its current shareholding interest of 13.5%, parliament decided last week. The investment will be made in equal annual instalments by 2030.
In October 2021, the bank decided to increase its subscribed capital to 3.1 billion euro from 2.29 billion, with its paid-in capital to rise by 244.96 million euro to 931.5 million euro as a result of the new subscription. Each of the 11 countries participating in the lender's shareholding structure is entitled to purchase up to 447,744 shares of 1,150 euro in par value each. The countries must notify the bank by January 31 of their decision to take part in the capital increase.
BSTDB's three largest shareholders are Greece, Turkey and Russia, with stakes of 16.5% each, the lender's website shows. Romania holds 14%, while Ukraine owns as much as Bulgaria. Headquartered in Thessaloniki, Greece, the international development lender also counts Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova as founding shareholders.
Since its inception in 1999, BSTDB has financed 39 projects for a total of some 913 million euro in Bulgaria in the energy, infrastructure, food and food processing, and agriculture sectors. As of end-October last year, its portfolio in Bulgaria was valued at 237 million euro or around 10.5% of its overall active asset portfolio, according to a report published by parliament.
($ = 0.9184 euro)