The process of privatization of the Romanian Commercial Bank - BCR concluded on Thursday as the Romanian state cashed in 2.2 billion euro for the BCR shares passed to Erste Bank, a press release of the Authority for State Assets Recovery says.

With the transfer of the 2.2 billion in the account the Romanian state opened at Citibank London, Erste bank becomes the new majority shareholder of the country’s largest bank.

The Austrian group was named winner of the BCR privatization tender by the end of last year. It offered 3.75 billion euro for 61.88% of BCR. The Romanian state cashed in the 2.2 billion for the 36.8% stake it sold, while two international institutions, the EBRD and the IFC, will received some 750 million each for the packages of 12.5% each held in the privatized bank.

BCR manages assets of over 10 billion euro. It has 450 branches and agencies across the country, with a national network of over 1,200 ATMs and some 8,500 POS’s. It numbers over 4.4 million clients, 90% of which are natural personsl.

In the first half of 2006, it reported a profit of 451.17 million RON (some 125 million euro), 11.5% more than in the same period last year.