ABU DHABI: Serbia’s Central bank has issued an operating licence to a unit of the United Arab Emirates based Royal Group conglomerate Mirabank.
Serbian central bank governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic said Mirabank would invest $5 billion in the Balkan country by 2017.
Further the move is part of a deepening of business ties between Belgrade and Abu Dhabi, including investment in Serbia’s agriculture sector, a $1 billion loan from the UAE and the 2013 sale of a 49 percent stake in flag carrier Air Serbia to Etihad.
The central bank said it is expected that the bank will start its regular operations by the end of March 2015.
A former Yugoslav republic of some 7.3 million people all foreign banks in Serbia are registered as domestic legal entities and their operations are overseen by the central bank.
