Banca Transilvania has become a shareholder of Victoriabank, the third largest bank in the Republic of Moldova, with a total participation of over 66% alongside the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IPN reports, with reference to a press release signed by  Laura Petrehus, vice director of the Communication and PR Department of BT, based in Cluj Napoca, Romania.

BT and EBRD are majority shareholders and strategic partners of Victoriabank, which wish to support the entrepreneurs and the economy of the Republic of Moldova. It is for the first time in the past 10 years that a bank outside the Republic of Moldova is investing on this market, as BT is paving the way for future investments in the neighboring country.

In a news conference last December, Dimitri Gvindadze, Head of the EBRD Office in Moldova, said that Moldova has improved governance and transparency rules in the banking sector, and this will enable to attract reputable foreign investors. He noted that the country needs strategic investors to modernize Moldovan banks and the announced purchase of shares in Victoriabank by Banca Transilvania, due to be completed in January, will be a major step towards the recovery and modernization of the financial sector.

At the start of last November, Banca Transilvania, the second largest bank in Romania, together with its shareholder EBRD, announced plans to buy an initial shareholding of over 39% in Victoriabank. In mid-November, the National Bank of Moldova authorized BT to purchase the shares.