OTP group not to sell bank in Serbia

- OTP Bank is going to resume its operations in Serbia. Last year it registered 1.39 billion RSD worth of profit before taxation, which is 33.5% more than in 2007 – said Henrik Auth, the President of the Executive Board of that bank.

He told Beta that Hungarian OTP banking group was not going to sell its bank in Serbia, but to develop the business.

- OTP group planned the expansion to the markets of former republics of Soviet Union. It also took the possibility of sale of banks in Slovakia and Serbia in consideration, but the group made the strategic decision in October 2008 to stay in Serbian market – Mr. Auth pointed out.

According to the estimates, the market in Serbia has the potentials that enable OTP Bank to operate successfully and stably, and further development of business in Serbia represents the best long-term solution.

According to the words of Mr. Auth, total balance sum in OTP Bank in Serbia was increased last year by 19.4%, reaching 48.3 billion RSD, while the market percentage grew to 2.51.

- Total capital of the bank amounted to 12.54 billion RSD in 2008, while the bank’s stock capital amounted to 6.6 billion RSD. The increase in the bank’s stock capital is not in the plan for this year – he pointed out.

The President of the Executive Board of OTP Bank said that the aim of the ongoing reorganization of operations was the improvement of efficiency, and he specified that that process was the consequence of the merger of three banks in Serbia - Kulska, Niška and Zepter.