Had Commercial Bank been put up for sale in 2014, we would not have gotten 100 million euros for 100% stake, while the current government managed to get the bank on its feet and sell for 387 million euros for 83% stake, which is above the estimated value of the whole bank, Prime Minister Ana Branbic told the assembly.
Responding to a question from MP Djordje Vukadinovic from NS – PSS, who asked if there was a possibility that the sale of Commercial Bank could be halted since no serious country would relinquish its financial sovereignty, Branbic said that the previous government had promised in 2009 to sell of that bank.
She said that the current government had done a lot to make Commercial Bank perform well, while during the previous government a “golden parachute” was provided for the then director of Commercial Bank, Ivica Smolic, who received a severance pay of 700,000 euros when he was fired because he did not do well enough in his job.
“These were political agreements and so Commercial Bank was running and one of the big reasons why I personally am for the sale, because all we saw before the government led by Aleksandar Vucic, or until 2014, is that all the banks in state-owned assets were managed in such a way that individuals, money and parties were financed through them, and those banks were destroyed. And that was the case with Commercial Bank”, Brnabic said.
She said that this government had chosen a financial advisor to sell the bank and that the value estimate for 100 percent of the bank’s capital ranged from 406 to 451 million euros, and by 83.23 percent from 338 to 375 million euros.
“So the price we have offered is above the top rank of the bank. The selected offer is above the bank’s market capitalization as of June 30, 2019”, said Brnabic.
The Prime Minister stressed that the state of Serbia safeguards its interests and that it still has two of its banks: the Postal Savings Bank and the Serbian Bank, and added that the previous government had taken bankruptcy and destroyed five state-owned banks.
She also stressed that the previous government had sold NIS or the entire Serbian oil industry for a similar price of 400 million euros.
“I don’t think the state is the best owner, but in the past six years it has been a much better owner than before”, Brnabic added, Tanjug reports.
