State to acquire Erste stake by year-end

Budapest, August 12 (MTI) – The Hungarian state and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are committed to acquiring minority stakes in Erste Bank Hungary by the end of the year, daily Napi Gazdasag said on Wednesday.

The cabinet office and EBRD spokesman Anthony Williams told the paper that talks on the acquisition are moving forward according to the schedule agreed on by the parties involved.

The government aims to close the transaction in the coming months, but no later than the end of this year, the paper said.

Hungary’s government and the EBRD agreed in February to buy stakes up to 15 percent apiece in the Hungarian unit of Austria’s Erste Group. The government also announced a reduction in the bank levy.

The original deadline for acquiring the stakes was June 30.

Williams told Napi Gazdasag that the EBRD had expressed its concerns to the government over a top-up fund established to compensate investors who lost money in the Quaestor broker scandal. It is hoped that a solution will comply with the spirit of the agreement with the EBRD, he added.

The top-up fund, sourced by banks, is being contested in court.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters