Bulgaria’s central bank has said its commitment and action taken so far create prerequisites for the timely finalisation of the acquisition of the branch nework of Greece's Alpha Bank in the country by Postbank, a subsidiary of another Greek lender, Eurobank.

The deal, announced on 17 July, needs the approval of Bulgarian and Greek regulators as well as the Single Supervisory Mechanism of the eurozone. The parties to the transaction expect it to be completed by the end of the year.

The SSM is the home supervisor of the eurozone banks’ divisions and branches operating in Bulgaria.

Four Greek-owned banks operate in Bulgaria, holding about a fifth of the assets of the country’s banking system.

While Eurobank, Piraues Bank and National Bank of Greece each operate in Builgaria through subsidiaries subject to the supervision of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), Alpha Bank is a branch, which means the BNB cannot exercise full control over the lender.

“The BNB supports the market-driven consolidation processes and ownership transformation in the banking system, which also further strengthen the capital base and liquidity, financial autonomy and operational independence from other countries’ banking systems”, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a statement.

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