Preliminary Agreement on KM Buying and Selling of KM in Croatia with Splitska Bank Has Been Made

A preliminary agreement to buy & sell the Convertible Marka, (KM) in Croatia no later than 1st June 1999 has been made between the Central Bank of Bosnia & Herzegovina, (CBBH) and Splitska banka d.d. of Split, Croatia. The agreement was made on Friday afternoon, 23rd April in Split, following three hours of negotiations between the CBBH & Splitska banka d.d. Splitska banka d.d. is the third largest bank in Croatia and with a network of 200 currency exchange counters throughout the country, welcomed the opportunity to be the FIRST Croatian bank to actively promote the use of the KM. The deal would only go into effect after its approval by the Croatian National Bank. "Splitska banka is ready to submit to the Croatian National Bank, a request for approval of this preliminary agreement. We have a great interest in this arrangement due to mutual interests and tourism," said Splitska banka d.d.'s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Tomo Bolotin. The Governor of the CBBH, Mr. Peter Nicholl led the negotiations along with key members of the CBBH staff and the management of Splitska banka d.d. "This is a very important step for the KM as many people from BiH go to the Croatian coast and they will now be able to change and use their KM there," said Governor Nicholl. Support for the trading of KM in Croatia also came from the tourism sector with the attendance at the negotiations of Mr. Mili Razovic, director of the Split-Dalmatian County division of the Croatian Tourism Board. Mr. Razovic said that the agreement would bring "positive benefits to the businesses of the Dalmatian coast, while at the same time promote the KM." Also at the meeting was Mr. Špiro Erceg, President of the Split-Dalmatian County Government, and Mr. Berislav Kutle, General Director of Hrvatska banka, d.d. Mostar. Hrvatska banka, d.d. has agreed to act as Splitska banka d.d.'s agent in Bosnia & Herzegovina for the trading of KM. As soon as the final agreement has been approved by the Splitska banka d.d. & the CBBH, a definite start date for exchange operations will be announced, but it was agreed by both parties to begin operations no later than June 1st, 1999, the start of the heavy summer tourist season, pending approval from the Croatian National Bank. Splitska banka d.d. joins CBBH partners in Austria, Germany, Hungary & Switzerland in promoting the KM as a truly European currency. For further information, please call the CBBH, Office of Public Relations at 071-444-784, email at [email protected] or Splitska banka d.d. at ++385-21-371-529.