One of the most powerful Italian banking groups, UniCredito Italiano, has expressed interest in participating in the privatisation of the banking sector in Romania.
The chairman of the Italian group on Tuesday came to Bucharest to meet with PM Adrian Nastase and brief him on the group's short-term plans about the Romanian banking market.
At present, only one bank is likely to catch UniCredito's eye, namely Banca Comerciala Romæna (Romanian Commercial Bank-BCR), already on the Government's priority list and included in the list of companies to be privatised under the PSAL II agreement.
Furthermore, the Cabinet will have to present a firm statement by October, pledging to privatise BCR and present the clear strategy to do it, in order to have the first PSAL II tranche released, as agreed upon with the World Bank.
The other two still state-owned banks are Eximbank and Casa de Economii si Consemnatiuni (Romanian Savings Bank-CEC) and it is highly unlikely they might be the ones eyed by UniCredito, as there are clear signals the two banks are not up for privatisation yet, since they have to undergo restructuring first. "UniCredito has also expressed interest in taking over the financial operations of its clients conducting business in Romania. Both parties feel it is important for UniCredito to be present in the Romanian business environment, where about 10,000 Italian-capital companies operate," the Government announced.
On the other hand, UniCredito is in advanced talks with Turkish officials to take over Turkey-based Demirbank TAS, the main stockholder of Demirbank Romania. In case the takeover becomes final in Turkey, UniCredito will implicitly enter Romania.
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