The sale of "SBS-Agro" has begun
Yesterday, ARCO reported that it managed to sell 96.4% of the shares of the Macedonian bank Stolichny Bank International Macedonia AD, owned by SBS-Agro Bank. The Macedonian bank was sold to its own minority shareholders for $1.5 million. ARCO claims that the buyers are in no way connected with the structures of the former head of SBS-Agro, Alexander Smolensky.

It was previously assumed that the Macedonian subsidiary bank SBS-Agro would be sold at an open auction on September 11, 2000. However, according to Alexander Voznesensky, director of ARKO’s public relations department, minority shareholders of the bank expressed a desire to buy shares of Stolichny Bank International Macedonia AD. Under local law, shareholders have priority rights when purchasing shares. So the auction had to be cancelled. But why 96.4% of the shares of the Macedonian bank were valued at only $1.5 million, ARKO refused to say. According to an employee of the public relations department, it was determined by a Russian independent appraiser with foreign participation, accredited by ARCO.
This situation immediately caused a lot of rumors: a number of observers suggested that the former subsidiary bank SBS-Agro was bought out by structures close to the founder of SBS-Agro, Alexander Smolensky. ARCO denied this information. According to an ARCO employee, the National Bank of Macedonia, before preparing for the auction, even set a condition that the bank would not be sold to structures affiliated with the former main owners. The National Bank of Macedonia itself was unable to comment on the situation yesterday, citing the absence of press service employees.
Employees of Alexander Smolensky claim that they know nothing about the deal. But, according to them, the condition of the National Bank of Macedonia is quite understandable: after the crisis of the parent bank Stolichny Bank International Macedonia AD also began to experience problems. However, as a source close to the bank's former owners put it, the decision to sell the bank to Macedonian companies was most likely purely political.

ALEXANDER J-SEMENOV

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 166 dated 09/07/2000, p. 7