Belgian KBC Group is to acquire the United Bulgarian Bank and the leasing services provider Interlease. Thus, KBC will become the biggest bank-insurance group in Bulgaria after the acquisition. UBB was previously owned by the National Bank of Greece. The deal is estimated at EUR 610 million. The Belgian financial group has been present in Bulgaria's banking sector since 2007 through its subsidiary CIBANK. It has a presence on the Bulgarian insurance market through its DZI insurance company. The merger between CIBANK and UBB will create the third largest banking group in Bulgaria. UBB intends to make EUR 183 million extraordinary dividend payment to the National Bank of Greece before the acquisition. The deal must be approved by a series of regulatory bodies such as the Bulgarian National Bank, the Financial Supervision Commission, etc. The merger is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017.
13% of boys and 11% of 11-year-old girls in Bulgaria smoked at least one cigarette in the past 30 days of the survey, BGNES reported, referring to a UN report on the healthy behavior of school-age children. 17% of boys under 13 also..
Today Bulgaria is hosting a global event of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The results of the organisation's global report on social-emotional skills among 15-year-old students around the world will be announced from..
Clouds will break over the western half of the country overnigh t, becoming mostly clear, while rain will continue to fall over the east. Friday will be mostly sunny. There will be light winds, mainly from the north. Minimum temperatures will be between..
The Bulgarian Parliament has finally postponed the liberalisation of the energy market for one year, starting from 1 July. The decision was taken with..
The National Assembly removed its chairman Rosen Zhelyazkov from office. His dismissal was proposed by We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria,..
Hail storm caused huge damage in the regions of Plovdiv, Haskovo, Stara Zagora and Sliven. No people were injured but crops in many..
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