State brings 13m euros and two new vice-presidents at CEC Bank

CEC Bank, the only top-ranking bank still in the state's portfolio, will increase its capital by 52.9 million lei (nearly 13 million euros) from last year's profit and by incorporating reserves.

At the General Shareholders Meeting that approved the capital increase a new Board of Directors was also appointed, which brings two new vice-presidents to the management team - Andrei Stamatian and Andrei-Răzvan Micu - with Radu Gheţea being elected for a new term as chairman. The terms will start in May and have a duration of three years.

"The capital increase was necessary in order to consolidate the bank. But it is not sufficient, because, although our solvency ratio is high, 17.18%, we have very daring projects that can be carried through to their end only if there is commitment for capital increases, when they are needed," Gheţea commented for ZF. The projects have to do with boosting lending, as well as with implementing a new IT system.

After this increase, the share capital of CEC Bank exceeded the one billion-lei mark (nearly 255 million euros).

CEC Bank ended last year with a 6.37% market share by assets, ranking among the big banks, with Gheţea saying this year's target is to preserve the same level, on a market where competition is returning. The bank ended last year with 21.7 billion-lei (5.1 billion euros) in assets, up 4%.