The sales contract with which NKBM will offload KBM banka to Serbian millionaires Andrej Jovanović and Bojan Milanović is due to be signed on Wednesday, the Maribor-based paper says citing unofficial sources.

This way NKBM will withdraw from the Serbian market and fulfil the final condition for privatisation as part of which Apollo will become the new majority owner of the Maribor-based banking group.

The parties involved have received regulatory approval for the sale of KBM banka, with NKBM getting clearance from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the two Serbian businessmen who made a fortune with a crisp factory holding approval from the National Bank of Serbia, Večer writes.

While the NKBM has refused to comment on the report, the sale of KBM banka is believed to be the final condition by Apollo and its partner in the acquisition of the NKBM, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), for completing the EUR 250m takeover.

According to Večer, NKBM will offload its Serbian subsidiary for a symbolic sum, as the new owners will have to immediately provide it with fresh capital.

The subsidiary has been struggling with capital adequacy for years and is considered a failed foray by NKBM into the markets of the former Yugoslavia, the paper adds.