OREANDA-NEWS. March 7, 2008. The Bank of Moscow has received permission to set up a subsidiary structure in Serbia — Moskovska banka a.d. — Belgrade (MBB) with an authorised equity capital in the amount of 15 million Euros (the equivalent in the national currency).

The Supervisory Council of the subsidiary bank will include the President of the Bank of Moscow Andrei Borodin and Vice-presidents of the Bank of Moscow Alexei Sytnikov and Pavel Gorbatsevich. Vladimir Zechar has been approved to hold the position of Chairman of the Management Board of the MBB.

"The Bank of Moscow is successfully developing its business not only in Russia, but also beyond", says Vice-president of the Bank of Moscow Alexei Sytnikov. "We have long since intended to enter the financial market of Serbia; at the same time, we initially considered two scenarios — purchase of an existing bank and opening of a new one. It was eventually decided to take up the second option. It is interesting to note that the Bank of Moscow is the first foreign financial institution over the last seven years to receive permission to open a subsidiary bank on the territory of Serbia".

In the foreseeable future, the MBB is to become a universal bank, serving both individuals and legal entities. "Business in Serbia is developing quite dynamically: the growth rate of the GDP (6% per annum) exceeds the average European level, so the local market is a promising one for Russian companies", Alexei Sytnikov comments. "The commodity turnover between our countries is demonstrating good dynamics. I believe that one of the priority spheres of activity of the MBB will be servicing of the financial and commodity flows between Russia and Serbia".