Presidential office: Commerzbank should announce its specific plans in Lithuania this year

VILNIUS – Commerzbank, one of the largest German banks, will announce its specific plans for Lithuania later this year, presidential advisor Vaidas Augustinavicius has said.

“The bank itself will definitely comment, we will not have to wait long to hear new specific news... We think it will definitely be this year,” Augustinavicius told reporters on Friday after a meeting between President Gitanas Nauseda and a Commerzbank delegation.

 “At today's meeting, the president was very concerned about how to speed up the processes so that the German banks could enter the Lithuanian economy faster, what could be done even faster,” the president's economic advisor said.

Economy and Innovation Minister Ausrine Armonaite told BNS after meeting the bank’s delegation on Thursday that Commerzbank's intentions in Lithuania were serious and described her conversation with the delegation as “very positive”.

Augustinavicius described the meeting held between the president and the representatives of institutions and the bank at the Presidential Palace on Friday as productive and said that Commerzbank outlined its vision and plans for Lithuania.

Like Armonaite, he assured that Commerzbank would make its intentions public itself.

“Let's leave it to the bank to work out first how they see the Lithuanian market. Let them first announce how they think,” the advisor said.

He said there were many prospects for cooperation and the bank itself was interested in financing business and infrastructure projects.

“When we talk about cooperation opportunities, of course, they include both business financing and financing of infrastructure projects. It can cover many areas," Augustinavicius said.

According to him, the entry of a new player into the banking market would increase competitiveness and improve the quality of banking services.

Augustinavicius said that the bank considered Lithuania to be a promising market, but it was important for the bank to ensure quick regulatory processes.

“The bank is really very forward-looking about the Lithuanian economy, and speed is also important for them. I think we need to align the procedures and we think the outlook is very bright," the advisor said.

Commerzbank assured in a written comment to BNS that it was “very pleased” to have had the opportunity to talk about “the investment climate in Lithuania”, and described Lithuania as "a dynamic and innovative player on both the European and global stage”.

In addition to Germany, the bank is currently present in 46 countries worldwide.

In recent years, Lithuania’s leaders have been constantly inviting banks from other countries to set up in Lithuania, and representatives of the Bank of Lithuania have also repeatedly mentioned the possible entry of new players in the banking market.

In mid-July, the Verslo Zinios news portal reported about plans of Bank of Taiwan, the largest bank in Taiwan, to establish a branch in Lithuania. This was announced after the island's Financial Supervision Commission approved the bank's application to establish in Lithuania.

In January, Gediminas Simkus, Governor of the Bank of Lithuania, confirmed to the 15min news portal the unofficial information earlier published by BNS that Pekao, one of the largest Polish banks, is also considering to establish a branch in Lithuania.

Before that, PKO, the largest Polish bank, confirmed to BNS officially that it intended to start operations in Lithuania without establishing a branch there.