National Bank of Greece financial (NBG) manager Anthimos Thomopoulos denied on Wednesday his institution's interest in buying the Romanian Transilvania Bank, according to reporter.gr, quoted by Romanian news agency NewsIn. Thomopoulos said that NBG's strategy was to expand th South-East Europe through small acquisitions.

NBG financial manager said that following the increase in capital, NBG is one of the most powerful banks in Europe from a capitalisation point of view, with high liquidities level.

According to the Greek press, the National Bank of Greece would be interested in buying Transilvania Bank. the information generated intense speculations at the Bucharest stock market for Transilvania Bank titles, which saw a strong appreciation on Friday and on Monday.

NBG operates in Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Albania, Cyprus, Egypt and Turkey and estimates that these countries' economies will recover during the following year.

In November 2003, NBG bought the Romanian Bank's majority shares package, currently owning 89.07% of its social capital, according to the bank's website. Another important shareholder is the European bank for Construction and Development (EBRD), owning 10.21% of the bank's social capital.

NBG also controls ETEBA Romania, Garanta Asigurari and NGB Leasing.