April 3 (SeeNews) - Serbian lender Komercijalna Banka [BEL:KMBN] said Vladimir Medan has taken over as its new chief executive officer as of April 2.
The appointment of Medan was approved by the board of directors of Komercijalna Banka and by Serbia's central bank, Komercijalna said in a statement on Monday.
Medan replaced Alexander Picker, who was named CEO of Komercijalna Banka in November 2015 to prepare the bank for privatisation and resigned in September 2017.
According to Serbian media reports, Picker resigned due to the lack of support by the Serbian government for the business plan of the bank.
Medan was an executive director of Novosadska Banka which was acquired by Erste in 2003. After the transaction, Medan became CEO of Erste Bank Serbia, a position he had held until 2007.
The Serbian government owns 41.74% of the share capital of Komercijalna banka, while the EBRD controls 24.43% shareholding interest. The IFC Capitalization Fund holds 10.15% stake and the remainder is in the hands of private investors.
In November, Serbian news agency Beta quoted EBRD associate director Aleksandra Vukosavljevic as saying the EBRD remains committed to the privatisation of Komercijalna via the capital market, but as a minority shareholder it does not have the tools to make the government choose this option.