The country's sixth largest First Investment Bank reached an agreement yesterday for taking over at least 75% plus one share in the Nis-based MB Bank in Serbia. The price of the deal is not announced but FIB vows to raise the shareholders' capital of MB Bank to €15 million from €10 million at present. The deal should pass the approval of the central bank of Serbia.

MB Bank manages assets for nearly €40 million or around 0.4% of Serbia's banking system. In addition to its operations in Bulgaria, FIB has subsidiaries in Albania and Cyprus and majority stake in Macedonia's Unibank. The local lender reports totals assets of BGN2.5 billion (€1.3 billion) as of the end of last year without counting holdings aboard. The major stakes in FIB are controlled by two local physical persons -- Ivailo Mutafchiev and Tseko Minev -- with 31.83% each, the local First Financial Brokerage House with 13.89%, and two international investment funds with 10% each.