A joint venture is the way to go in Turkey, says consultant Panagis Vourloumis, former managing director of Alpha Finance, the investment banking arm of Alpha Bank. Greek bankers are familiar with Turkish capital markets, and they feel comfortable about the country s prospects. The overthrow of Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic is expected to bring a swift end to Serbia s isolation. Greek banks that already have made acquisitions in Romania and Bulgaria are keen to explore the Serbian market, but they sound cautious about investing. Greek companies, mainly food processors and metals traders, have maintained a presence in Belgrade.
Greek contractors are keen to take a share of foreign aid-assisted reconstruction projects.
But, until the outer wall of international financial sanctions against Yugoslavia is lifted, the banks are unlikely to make a move. NBG, which acquired leading commercial banks in Bulgaria and Macedonia this year, was close to acquiring the assets of Slavija Bank, a bankrupt subsidiary of Beogradska Banka, the biggest Yugoslav bank, when sanctions were imposed by the international community in 1998. NBG planned to invest alongside a consortium of Greek businessmen who would have contributed to a capital injection and been the bank s main clients. Agricultural Bank established a retail banking agreement with Beobanka, also part of the Beogradska group, which was expected to lead to an equity participation. The deal allowed depositors with hard currency accounts in Beobanka to withdraw funds through Agricultural s branch network in Greece.