AGREEMENT ON INTERNAL RESTRUCTURING OF PRIVREDNA BANKA SIGNED

ZAGREB, Sept 11 (Hina) - Croatia's State Agency for Savings Deposit Insurance and Bank Rehabilitation and the Bank of Ireland International Services signed an agreement on the internal restructuring and rehabilitation of Privredna Banka Zagreb on Thursday. One of the world's most respectable consulting firms will help the Croatian bank completely change its internal structure and complete its restructuring and rehabilitation programme thanks to which it has established domestic and foreign currency liquidity in the past seven months. In the next two months, Croatian and Irish experts will define strategic guidelines and work out a comprehensive plan of implementing the restructuring programme. The programme will focus on a new business strategy, cost reduction, personnel, information technology, etc. Under the agreement, restructuring should be completed within two years' time. It is estimated that it would take a minimum of 12 to 15 months. Privredna Banka executive director Ivan Gerovac, who is in charge of the project, said that the agreement was not among the biggest ones the bank had concluded, but that it was among the most important ones because it should help the bank become again the best bank in Croatia. Bank of Ireland vice-president Terry O'Higgins expressed optimism about the success of the restructuring and rehabilitation programme, stressing that his bank had experience with similar programmes with other transition countries. (hina) vm 111831 MET sep 97