Mali: NLB completes acquisition of Komercijalna banka before year-end

The Finance Minister added that some 60 million euros have already been paid to the State through a dividend.

Otherwise, the payment of late dividends is one of the conditions to close the transaction.

“Within the transaction, about 400 million euros should be poured into the budget of Serbia for the privatization of Komercijalna Banka. A few days ago, we already received a part of the dividend paid by Komercijalna Banka, about 60 million euros,” said the Minister.

Of the 60 million euros received, or about seven billion dinars, 3.7 billion dinars refer to the contractual obligation to distribute half of last year’s earnings through dividends.

Mali recalled that NLB banka had made the best offer for Komercijalna banka and noted that the transaction was slowly coming to an end.

“Most of the consent of the entire region has already been obtained and only the consent of the European Central Bank remains and based on that the consent of the NBS. I hope that in the coming weeks we will get that consent to complete and close the transaction to the end. of the year, “said the minister. Tanjug.

Mali says that this privatization will be good for the state budget, because salaries and pensions are also obtained with that money.

“I hope that this transaction will be completed and that Komercijalna Banka will gain a new owner by the end of the year, and then the state will be left with only one bank on its property, the Postal Savings Bank,” he said.

It also says that the privatization of Komercijalna Banka was part of an agreement with the IMF that expires at the end of the year.

In addition to the 387 million euros, Serbia will earn more than 450 million euros for 83.2 percent of the state shares until the end of the takeover bid, as it will receive interest income at a rate of two percent per annum for the period from January 1, 2020, that NLB is bound to pay off.