Portfolio.hu: While in 2006 Erste Bank was engaged integrating Romania unit BCR, several other banks in the region, e.g. Raiffeisen Int., OTP were turning their attention to Ukraine and Russia. Do you have any kind of regret that you missed out on the CIS boom?
Andreas Treichl: No, I am not really nervous about missing out on Russia and Central Asia. I accept that it is a highly interesting market but our strength is that we are concentrating on a certain number of things. There is logic in how we are developing in the region.
If you look at our region, it makes a lot of sense, because there is a tremendous amount of traffic not only for large companies but also for small and medium-size enterprises. And private mobility is also high. This is a region of 120 million people and our goal is to have 20% market share here. If you are a bank on a market which is one and a half times bigger than Germany and control some 20% means a very strong base.
We see great opportunities to make of lot of money in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and, of course, in Russia. But we want to concentrate on our existing markets and not on those where we are not present yet. Once we feel that we have the chance to reach the position we want, and we also have the necessary management resources, then we will move to another market. This, however, does not necessarily have to be Russia; it can be something completely different.
Portfolio.hu: Which countries could be your next target?
Andreas Treichl: Our strategy is focused on Central and Eastern Europe for now. Our strategy was to create a bank for new EU members, and for those countries that have the chance to join the bloc. We hope that Serbia, Croatia and Ukraine will make it. Russia will never be an EU member, as it is a completely different market. If we see a need for a new strategy, we will have one, but it could be India, as well.
For the complete interview, including discussion of merger options in the CEE region, please see Portfolio.hu