Commerzbank plans to open a new representative office in Lithuania, in Vilnius, in December this year. It will become a hub for the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. As part of its international development strategy, the bank recognizes the great importance of the Baltic region, according to the Commerzbank website. This is reported by ru.delfi.lt. Commerzbank will focus its main attention on trade and project financing in the region. In addition, a key priority will be deepening cooperation with the public sector and the local financial services sector. According to Advisor to the President of Lithuania Vaidas Augustinavičius, the emergence of a new market participant in the country will increase competitiveness and improve conditions in the financial sector. As previously stated by the Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank of Lithuania (BoL) Gediminas Šimkus, large foreign banking players view Lithuania as an attractive country for doing business. According to him, there are signs that banks are planning to "come to Lithuania". "We discussed the development of the financial market, I think that there is room in our country for new market participants, credit institutions, especially those with capital, liquidity and know-how in banking. We have at least several institutions that are taking the initiative to come to Lithuania, Commerzbank (…), but specific plans should be commented on by the market participants themselves," G. Šimkus told journalists after a meeting with the Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrine Armonaitė. "There are many forms of activity, it could be a branch, a division, a representative office, (…) but we have specific signs that our country is interesting and attractive, and large banking players in other countries see business opportunities in it," he noted. "Now we have heard about the plans of one of the Taiwanese banks, about the visit of Commerzbank, now the talk is "who else". A little strategic patience: when the banks are ready, draw up their strategies, then they will comment. (…) The same is with the Polish bank Pekao", – said the chairman of the board of BL. Today, the Lithuanian banking sector has 18 participants: 13 have a banking license, another 5 operate as branches of foreign banks. The largest share of the market is occupied by Swedbank, SEB and Luminor.
