Commerzbank would work primarily with corporate clients in Lithuania – minister

VILNIUS - Commerzbank, one of the largest German banks, which is considering launching operations in Lithuania, should first of all work with corporate clients here, Lithuanian Economy and Innovation Minister Ausrine Armonaite says.

With strong trade ties between Lithuania and Germany, it is natural that the German bank would focus primarily on financing businesses, as well as the energy, defense and high-tech sectors, she said.

"We are primarily talking about working with business clients (...), but the bank will certainly provide more detail about its activities," Armonaite told reporters on Friday. "There is a lot of focus on energy, defense and high-tech in Europe. We have a lot of German investors here, and we continue to attract more of them. Lithuanian-German trade volumes are high. Naturally, the banking sector is also looking in this direction."

Armonaite met with a Commerzbank delegation on Thursday, and its members visited the presidential office on Friday. Armonaite told BNS that the bank's intentions in Lithuania were serious and the talks were positive, adding that the German bank would not need state incentives.

"If you are asking about financial incentives or something like that, there is no need to talk about that," Armonaite told reporters on Friday.

Both she and representatives of the presidential office stressed that the bank itself would announce its specific plans in Lithuania. Presidential advisor Vaidas Augustinavicius told reporters on Friday that the bank should do so later this year.

Besides Germany, Commerzbank currently operates in 46 countries worldwide.

In recent years, Lithuanian leaders have regularly invited foreign banks to set up in the country, and representatives of the central Bank of Lithuania have also hinted numerous times on new players entering the country's banking market.

In mid-July, the vz.lt business news website reported about plans by the Bank of Taiwan, the largest bank in Taiwan, to establish a branch in Lithuania. The announcement was made after the island's Financial Supervisory Commission approved the bank's application to set up in Lithuania.

In January, Gediminas Simkus, the board chairman of the central Bank of Lithuania, confirmed to the 15min.lt news website the unofficial information reported by BNS earlier that Pekao, one of the largest Polish banks, was also considering establishing a branch in Lithuania. 

Earlier, PKO, Poland's largest bank, also officially confirmed to BNS it was planning to start operations in Lithuania without establishing a branch there.