The Romanian Government endorsed an ordinance that entailed the conclusion of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) privatization, according to the Finance minister Sebastian Vladescu. The law establishes the time and value limits of the state subsidies resulted in the wake of Bancorex absorption by BCR.

The subsidy cannot exceed half the contract value of 3.75 billion Euros, and the deadline of December 31.

Three other main conditions are to be fulfilled by September 21 - the law that endorses the contract provisions, the approval of the Competition Council and the Resolution of the Shareholders General Assembly. The next step is the approval by the Competition Council regarding the state’s subsidy. According to Vladescu, the subsidy amounts to approx. 900 million Euros.

The Austrian Erste Bank became the main shareholder following the purchase of 36.88% of the stocks, while EBRD and IFC hold 25% of the stocks. The share was valued at 7.65 Euros and the total amount for 490 million shares topped 3.75 billion Euros. The conclusion of the trade is to be finalised by September 21, 2006.