Ljubljana - The supervisory board of the NLB bank appointed on Thursday Hedvika Usenik, Antonio Argir and Andrej Lasič to the management board to expand it from three to six members. Their five-year terms will start after approval from banking regulator, and they will continue to serve as assistants to the management board until then.

The bank said that all new members, who join Blaž Brodnjak, Andreas Burkhardt and Archibald Kremser on the board, came from the core bank or the NLB group, and that they had extensive experience in banking.

The expansion of the management board of the country's largest bank comes as NLB is rapidly expanding, having recently acquired Komercijalna Banka Beograd to become a major player in seven markets in South-East Europe.

The bank is actively looking for new opportunities for either organic growth or expansion through acquisitions and mergers, NLB added in the press release as it announced the appointments.

In addition to the commitment to sustainable operation and development, the NLB group's strategy also focuses on intensive digitalisation and quality user experience, which will require comprehensive, coordinated and efficient management.

The bank said that the three new board members would enable it to be properly prepared for this challenge, adding that they possessed an optimal combination of diversified know-how, experience and competences.

NLB chief supervisor Primož Karpe said the expansion was needed to "continue to operate successfully and meet strategic commitments to stakeholders, in particular to our customers, shareholders and employees."

Blaž Brodnjak, the chairman of NLB, said that the management board already knew the three new members very well as they had been working together for many years. "I am convinced that they are the best choice," he said.

All three currently serve as assistants to the management board - Usenik for retail and private banking, Argir for management of the group, and Lasič for corporate and investment banking.

They will start their five-year terms on the board after they receive approval from the Banka Slovenije central bank as the market regulator.