“I think we are by far the most competitive market in the region,” is how Vladimir Cupic, CEO of Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank in Belgrade, describes the Serbian banking scene.
Since the fall of former president Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, the ­Serbian banking sector has changed dramatically, with a flood of foreign banks entering the market, most initially through acquisition. Banks from Austria, Italy, France, Greece, Germany and Hungary are all competing with each other for market share and profitability. In May, the National Bank of Serbia approved a licence for the Bank of Moscow to join the fray.
