DECISION ON SALE OF 51 PERCENT OF RIJECKA BANK'S SHARES TOMORROW

ZAGREB, Feb 23 (Hina) - The State Agency for Rehabilitation of Banks (DAB) managing board is to consider offers for the privatisation of the Rijecka Bank on Thursday. "I hope that the session will make a decision on the privatisation of the Rijecka Bank," said a deputy prime minister, Slavko Linic, on Wednesday. At a news conference which the Government organised on the privatisation of this bank, its management's chairman, Ivan Stokic, said at first 16 world financial institutions had shown interest in the purchase of 51 percent of shares of the bank. After the selection there are two possible buyers - Bayerische Landesbank and Banco di Roma. Linic and Finance and Economy Ministers, Mato Crkvenac and Goranko Fizulic respectively, used the news conference to point to the example of the Rijecka Bank that had cut interest rates for economy by five percent points, and accentuated the necessity for decreasing interest rates as one of goals of the new Government's programme. After this move, the interest rates of the Rijecka Bank go from 9.5 to 13 percent. This decrease was conducted without changes in the monetary policy, and shows that commercial banks have room for cutting interest rates, Linic added. Since its rehabilitation, the Government has become a majority owner of the Rijecka Bank. Following rehabilitation, Slavonska and Privredna banks were privatised. Besides Rijecka bank, the Splitska bank should be privatised now. Asked about the privatisation of the Splitska, Linic said that to date only one offer from Italy's Unicredit had been forwarded for such a move. The offer is not bad in view of the nominal value, Linic assessed adding that much money was invested in the rehabilitation of that bank. (hina) jn ms