Serbian businessman Miodrag Kostić is considering the possibility of entering the Montenegrin banking market, and he is also showing interest in Societe Generale Banka Montenegro. This was confirmed to "Vijesti" by several sources from the banking sector and close to Kostić's MK group.
"Vijesti" has unofficially learned that, in the event that the French Societe Generale (SG) group makes a final decision on the sale of a bank in Montenegro, in addition to OTP, which is the owner of Crnogorska kommercielja banka, several financial and corporate groups are interested in the purchase, among them is also the Belgrade MK.
To questions about interest in companies in Montenegro, the PR department of MK Group answered: "This topic is not current for us".
Kostić recently took over Alfa banka, which has been operating in Serbia since 2002, when it bought Jubanka. He owns AIK Bank, the sixth in Serbia in terms of net balance sheet amounting to EUR 1,5 billion at the end of 2016, and he owns 20 percent of the shares of the Slovenian Gorenjska banka.
MK Group is a holding company that consists of over 35 companies, engaged in agriculture, tourism, real estate, meat industry, renewable energy sources...
Governor of CBCG Radoje Žugić stated in April that it is definite that Societe is leaving the Montenegrin market.
It has not been officially announced from Societe Generale whether they are withdrawing, and from the French head office it was recently announced to "Vijesti" that they "do not want to comment on the rumours". The reason for SG to leave Montenegro could only be a good offer for the bank, which made a profit of 7,79 million euros in 2016 and over a million in the first quarter of this year.
From the Hungarian OTP, that is, CKB, they have been interested in buying Societe for a long time, and again the information has been updated that they are "most likely to take it over", after recent speculations that this idea failed.
The question is whether the shareholders of SG and under what conditions are ready to sell the bank, after the transaction in Croatia has been completed. OTP Group, based in Hungary, took over Splitska banka from Societe Generale. As long as the representatives of these two banks in Montenegro agree on the sale, the regulator decides whether they will merge.
A potential buyer would have to seek approval for this from the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG). The CBCG did not receive such a request.
Speaking recently about the merger of these two banks, Governor Žugić said that it is a business that the CBCG approaches responsibly and professionally, and that it is a delicate decision.
"Our analyzes should answer the question of whether this is an undesirable or desirable concentration on the market, whether it is a good banking practice. What potentially imposed caution is that we have the two largest banks that would merge into one, and we have to look at everything aspects of that job", said Žugić.
The Union of Montenegrin Banks announced that this would be a multiple detriment to the employees and that it would enable a monopoly position on the Montenegrin banking market.
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