Serbia To Raise Komercijalna Banka's Capital by 120 Mln Euro from EBRD, IFC - Econ Min Dinkic

Belgrade will sign a recapitalisation agreement for the bank with EBRD and IFC, the World Bank’s private sector arm, by the end of the year, Dinkic said in a statement posted on the government’s website late on Wednesday.

Komercijalna had a share capital of 19.2 billion dinars ($306.6 million/206 million euro) at the end of 2007, according to the latest figures available from the Belgrade Stock Exchange. The biggest shareholder in the bank was the government of Serbia with a stake of 42.6%. EBRD owned 25% as of end-2007, while the remainder was in the hands of minority shareholders.

The government will repay the 120 million euro loan over three years, Dinkic said.

Komercijalna ranked as the second largest bank out of the 34 banks operating in Serbia with 189 billion dinars in total assets at the end of June, data from the country’s central bank showed.

The bank's shares closed 1.47% lower at 35,505 dinars on the Belgrade Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

(1 euro=93.1976 Serbian dinars)