Hungarian banking group OTP Bank is determined to control 10% of the Romanian banking market by taking over the Romanian Savings House (CEC) currently put for privatization.
CEC is already covering 5% of the market through its spread accross the Romanian territory, according to Hungarian website Budapest Business Journal.
The state-controlled CEC has received green light for privatization after request for a postponement of its sale were rejected recently.
OTP already holds important stakes in Robank (Romania), along with IRB Bank (Slovakia), DSK Bank (Bulgaria), Nova Banka (Croatia) and Niska Banka (Serbia).
The CEC privatization process was launched in August 2005 but was close to being postponed by two years because of poor offers registered from international investors.
Last week, the Privatization Commission in Bucharest rejected a request to postpone the privatization by two years and decided to continue the process.
Besides OTP Bank, the quest for CEC includes the National Bank of Greece, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Dexia Bank, EFG Eurobank and Raiffeisen.
