Erste Group interested in buying another bank in Serbia

Erste Group Executive Director Andreas Treichl said that that Austrian banking group would buy a bank in Serbia if the opportunity arose.

"I would like Erste Bank to increase its presence in the market of Serbia and, if the opportunity arises for acquisition of a bank, we will take it", Mr. Treichl said in an interview for the new issue of Belgrade's Bankar magazine (www.emg.rs).

He did not want to specify which of the banks in Serbia might be the "target" of the takeover. Erste Group is present in Serbia since mid-2005, when it bought Novosadska Banka.

Mr. Treichl assessed it was wrong that mainly all the banks had continued operating after the crisis, but he added it was the reality.

"I think that the difference between bad and good banks will be even bigger in the future. It will be very interesting to see how the banks taken over by the state are going to operate in the future", the Erste Group Executive Director pointed out.

Mr. Treichl estimated that the new Basel 3 Agreement, stipulating higher liquidity level of the capital of banks, would contribute to a greater stability of the banking system, but he added that it was not the guarantee that there would not be a new crisis in the future.