June 23 (SeeNews) - The EBRD said it is pioneering the development of private pension management in Bosnia with an equity investment in the European Voluntary Pension Fund Management Company (EPF) together with Skupna pokojninska druzba and the Pension Reserve Fund of Bosnia's Serb Republic.
The EBRD and Enterprise Expansion Fund (ENEF) will jointly invest 1.5 million marka ($857,400/766,900 euro) to buy 33% of the capital and voting rights in the joint stock company, the bank said in a statement on Thursday.
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The investment will allow the fund management firm to become the first provider of voluntary pension management services in the Serb Republic, one of two entities that make up Bosnia. The other is the Federation.
Local capital market development is one of the strategic priorities of the EBRD under its new transition concept, the bank said. Under this plan it aims to promote the six transition qualities of resilience, integration, inclusion, greenness, governance and competitiveness, which are key elements of successful and sustainable market economies.
"Pension reform and the development of private pension management are challenging yet crucial steps as countries progress in their economic transition", Holger Muent, EBRD director for the Western Balkan, said. "The EBRD is proud to be involved in this effort as we aim to pioneer the development of local capital markets".
Since the beginning of its operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EBRD has invested more than 2 billion euro in almost 140 projects in the country.
ENEF is a 48.5 million euro fund supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with high-growth potential in the Western Balkans.
(1 euro=1.95583 marka)