The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is interested in participating in the privatisation of the insurance company Croatia Osiguranje (CO) and the Croatian Postal Bank (HPB), the EBRD Director for Croatia and Hungary, Zsuzsanna Hargitai, said on Tuesday.
Hargitai made the statement at a regional conference on the banking industry, entitled "Financial Industry Arena", which was taking place in Zagreb on Tuesday.
Speaking of the EBRD's plans for Croatia this year, Hargitai said that the plans included the bank's participation in the privatisation of the two state-owned financial institutions, albeit not directly but in cooperation with a future strategic partner. She noted that the EBRD had for a while been in contact with some of the potential strategic partners for CO and HPB, adding that the EBRD's goal was for HPB to become, through privatisation, a strong player on the Croatian banking market.
Hargitai said that the EBRD was in talks with the Ministry of Finance and the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) to draw up a new legislative framework for factoring services in order to diversify banking products in the country.
This year the EBRD will continue implementing the Partnership for Growth project with Societe General-Splitska Banka with the aim of encouraging economic growth in Croatia, and will also continue providing aid to local government units for energy efficiency projects, Hargitai said.
