Sberbank to Continue Operating Under a New Name in Republika Srpska – Ownership to Be Transferred to the Government

Sberbanka Banjaluka will operate as a bank under a new name owned by the Government of Republika Srpska, and the citizens’ deposits are safe. The prime minister of RS, Radovan Viskovic, said that Sberbank was among the best banks in Republika Srpska and that it would continue operating, but under a different name.

– The name will be agreed on in the next 24 hours. Bank deposits exceed BAM 800 million (EUR 400 million), and citizens’ deposits alone amount to around half a billion convertible marks. I invite everybody not to withdraw money. Everything is safe and the bank will work under a new name in the next two days – Viskovic emphasized.

This was announced after a meeting at the Government of Republika Srpska with representatives of the management of Sberbank, after the EU and the USA imposed sanctions on the Russian banks which operate in Europe.

The chairman of the management of Sberbank, Aleksandar Kesic, stated that the bank operated well and that “each convertible mark of the RS citizens and the bank’s clients is secure”.

The acting deputy director of the Banking Agency of RS, Srdjan Suput, has stated that the owner of Sberbanka Banjaluka is Sberbank in Vienna and added that the USA and the EU have imposed sanctions on the bank, due to which the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government of Republika Srpska and the Banking Agency of RS have decided for the Agency to acquire the bank’s shares until the procedure of the transfer of ownership to the Government of RS is finished.

It was announced that the Government of RS would invest BAM 15 million (around EUR 7.5 million) of share capital.

The minister of finance of RS, Zora Vidovic, said that the institutions of RS had reacted immediately in order to quickly and efficiently protect the savings of the bank’s clients and that the financial system of RS was still liquid.

A member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, said that the aim was to avoid the liquidation of one of the most successful banks, which employs around 400 workers in Republika Srpska.

Sberbanka Banjaluka

Sberbank Vienna

Government of Republika Srpska

Banking Agency of RS

Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ministry of Finance of RS

Aleksandar Kesić

Radovan Višković

Srđan Šuput

Zora Vidović

Milorad Dodik

deposits

sanctions

liquidation