Serbia has received four non-binding offers for the privatisation of the country's second-largest bank, Komercijalna banka, the finance ministry said on September 10.

The government wants to offer its whole stake in Komercijalna Banka, which was increased to 83.23% earlier in September after it has acquired the shares of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC's) Capitalisation Fund.

“The tender committee has noted that four offers have arrived within the deadline defined in the tender documentation. The offers were opened, and it was noted they were complete, respectively they contain the elements defined by the tender documentation for the first phase,” the finance ministry said in the statement.

In the next few days, the tender committee should rule which of the bidders can qualify for the next phase of the tender. The ministry did not elaborate on who the candidates were.

Raiffeisenbank, Slovenia’s Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), AIK Banka of Serbian businessman Miodrag Kostic, and a US-European consortium comprising Ripplewood Advisors, Serbia’s Direktna Banka and Greece’s Eurobank have expressed interest in bidding for Komercijalna Banka.

In February, the Serbian finance ministry chose French company Lazard as an adviser for the selection of a strategic partner for Komercijalna Banka. The money that the state will receive for the bank will be used for infrastructure projects.