Branches of Gref's Sberbank in the Balkans and Hungary were bought by a Serbian oligarch
The owner of the group of companies AIK Banka ad Beograd, Gorenjska Banka dd, Kranj and Agri Europe Cyprus Limited, which bought branches in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, BiH and Hungary from Sberbank Europe AG for approximately 500 million, is Serbian oligarch Miodrag Kostic.
Following this deal, according to Balkan media, Kostić became the most influential banker in the post-Yugoslav region, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The balance sheet of the branches of Sberbank Europe AG acquired by Kostic amounts to 7,33 billion euros. Chairman of the Board of AIK Bank and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Gorenjska banka Jelena Galic said that after the transaction, the assets of the Kostic banking group increased to more than 11 billion euros.
“The signed agreement (with Sberbank Europe AG - ed.) creates new opportunities for further growth and contributes to the development of one of the leading banking groups in the region, which offers customers innovative, high-quality banking products and services,” commented the Chairman of the Board of Gorenjska on the takeover of Sberbank branches banka Mario Henyak.
Balkan media report that unlike many of his Balkan colleagues, Miodrag Kostić has only strengthened his business empire over the past three to four years, which includes energy (wind farms), food production (meat, wine and sugar), luxury hotels and real estate. As of today, through his companies, he has invested a total of 1,5 billion euros, has six thousand employees, exports 230 million euros annually, and generates total revenues of up to 600 million euros.
Conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia have not affected the 62-year-old oligarch in any way; he spends the summer on the Croatian island of Hvar, the winter in Serbia at the Kopaonik ski resort, and periodically lives either in Croatian Istria or on the Montenegrin coast.
“I went through my development path early. He became a member of the party at the age of 17, but already at the age of 23, after finishing his studies at the university, he went into private business, Kostic recalled. “And I will always say: personal is better than public.” Why? Benefits everyone. And in the case of state property, which, as a rule, is of insufficient quality, all citizens end up paying the bill.”
Miodrag Kostic began his career at the age of fifteen by carrying bags of cement. In 1983 he opened his first pipe cleaning company. After that, he started producing corn flakes, then rented a brick factory, and in the late eighties he was shown on Belgrade television as the “economic miracle of Novi Sad.” He was the general director of the pro-Western Democratic Party, which overthrew Slobodan Milosevic as a result of the color revolution.
“The fight against Milosevic really cost me a lot, both personally and financially, and also in terms of health,” Kostic once said.
He was a friend of Serbia's first pro-Western Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who was assassinated by patriotic officers for betraying the country's interests, and carried his coffin during the funeral ceremony. He is also the godfather of the toxic liberal and Vojvodina separatist Nenad Čanak.
English version :: Read in English The branches of Gref's Sberbank in the Balkans and Hungary were bought by a Serbian oligarch.