Bulgaria

Bulgaria's financial regulator has approved the IPO prospectus of Monbat, the nation's biggest producer of car batteries.

The company, part of the Prista Oil group, will float BGN 4.7 mln shares with an issue price of BGN 5.5 and nominal value of BGN 1 .

The IPO, expected to happen in late October or early November, is part of Monbat's plans to raise capital from BGN 14.8 mln to 19.5 mln.

Defence ministers from Southeast Europe gathered in Tirana for their annual meeting. Issues related to boosting military co-operation and security in the region, as well as participation in international peacekeeping missions, topped the agenda. Participants also decided to grant observer status to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro and Serbia. A closed-door discussion of the Kosovo status problem was held as part of the event but no comments were made afterwards.

The local Economic and Investment Bank (EIBank) has sold for an undisclosed amount the stake in insurance company Bulstrad it acquired 2 years ago.

At the time, the bank bought a 4.9% stake in TBI, a group that controls Bulstrad and pension company Doverie. The deal led to the opening of joint customer service centers of EIBank and TBI group companies. According to unofficial sources, the 2 companies had agreed that Bulstrad will be EIBank's exclusive insurance partner.