'BANCA COMMERCIALE ITALIANA' TO PURCHASE 66.3% OF CRO BANK SHARES

ZAGREB, Dec 9 (Hina) - The Croatian government at the closed part of Thursday's session adopted a report on the course of privatisation of the Privredna Banka Zagreb (PBZ) bank, the government's Media and Public Relations Office said in a statement.#L# The session, which was chaired by Finance Minister Borislav Skegro, also adopted a motion by the administration of the State Agency for the Insurance of Savings Deposits and the Financial Rehabilitation of Banks (DAB), which proposed that Italian bank Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) be chosen as the exclusive negotiator in the privatisation of the PBZ. DAB director Mladen Sunjic has been authorised to sign with BCI a contract for the sale of 66.3 percent of PBZ shares. In future negotiations, the DAB is obligated to obtain a protective clause and the obligation on the part of the buyer of the shares that he will respect the rights of PBZ employees, with special view of maintaining employment. The government today also reached a conclusion under which 25 percent plus two shares cannot be sold without parliament's consent. "The government was pleased to assert that the final offer for the purchase of PBZ shares was considerably higher than the initial one, which is indisputable evidence of the high trust foreign investors have in Croatia," says the government statement. The BCI is part of "The New Intesa Group", a merger of the BCI and Banca Intesa, which is among the ten biggest banking associations in Europe. According to Italian sources, the BCI offered between 550 billion and 600 billion Italian lire for 66.3 percent of PBZ shares. The first assessments from banking circles say the offer may be considered an excellent one because it is twice as high as the nominal value of the shares offered by the PBZ. (hina) ha mm