Slovenia is aiming to sell the whole of Abanka by the middle of 2019 to meet the conditions of a deal to win European Commission approval for state recapitalization of Abanka, signed in 2013.

The report added that OTP is also interested in buying SKB banka, the Slovenian unit of French bank Société Générale (SocGen), and has already conducted due diligence on the unit. Recently, OTP has acquired several SocGen units in countries including Moldova, Montenegro, and Bulgaria.

Hungarian news wire MTI recalled that OTP Deputy CEO László Bencsik said in March that OTP would gladly buy a bank in Slovenia, where it currently has no market presence.