MK Group Planning to Expand Banking Business in the Region – Greenfield Investments in Hotel Management Also Announced

In the coming period, MK Group is planning considerable investments in all sectors it operates in. The biggest investments are expected in the segment of renewable energy sources, and the plan is to also expand the banking business in both Serbia and the region, but also to further develop the hotel business. In addition to greenfield investments in this segment, the group wants to invest in Budvanska Rivijera in Montenegro and they are interested in finding, together with the state, the best model for this to be realized. This was announced by the vice-president of MK Group, Aleksandar Kostic, at this year’s CEO Summit, which was held in Belgrade.

According to him, in the past five years, MK Group has managed to double its value, and considerable plans and investments are yet to follow.

Talking about the development of the banking sector, he said that their banking group was at a balance sum of some EUR 9 billion at that moment, and that the plan was for them to be at a minimum of EUR 20 billion in the next five years.

– Our ambitions are to open at least one or two more markets in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, whether by purchasing a bank or expanding our existing business – Kostic said.

When it comes to agriculture, Kostic said that there was plenty of room to upgrade the business operations within the existing businesses.

– For example, to not buy new sugar plants in the coming period and to invest within Sunoko instead, to be even better and enter the industries that are complementary to the sugar industry. Also, the plan is to be even more efficient within the agrarian sector. In the past few years, Carnex has been growing constantly, and if we want to remain the best, to be leaders, primarily when it comes to quality, and to export, we need to build a new factory. That’s an investment of 40 to 50 million euros – Kostic said.

Energy, that is renewable energy sources, is the sector in which MK Group will definitely invest the most, Kostic announced.

– We have a plan to have 1 GW, mostly from wind, by 2028, and if we manage to realize the big solar investment above Kula, then it will be up to 1.5 GW of installed energy for RES. On a good day, when the wind is blowing and it’s sunny, that amounts to around 20-25% of the production of total electricity in Serbia – he pointed out.

MK Group is also planning to expand in the real estate and hotel business as well. The most recent investment is Petram Resort in Savudrija, and new projects are also planned in the region.

– We have started off well and now we have two or three destinations that we are preparing and where would potentially want to make greenfield investments, build new hotels. Two are in Croatia and one is in Belgrade. We also have a share in the ownership of HTP Budvanska Rivijera in Montenegro. We are very interested in cooperating with the authorities in Montenegro to finally launch this project. Our intention is for Sveti Stefan to open in full capacity and to find a model for investing in Budvanska Rivijera, whether as a minority partner or as the majority owner, if the state decides to let us have their ownership. These are all plans that we want to realize in the next five years – Kostic concluded.

The organizer of the CEO Summit is Instore Media Srbija, and eKapija is a media partner of the event.

D. Obradovic

MK Group d.o.o. Beograd

Sunoko d.o.o. Novi Sad

Carnex d.o.o. Vrbas

INB2B Media d.o.o. Beograd

Budvanska rivijera a.d. Budva

MK Group

Sunoko

Carnex

HG Budvanska rivijera

Petram Resort

Sveti Stefan

Instore Media

Aleksandar Kostić

investments in banks

investments in banking sector

investments in agriculture

construction of a factory

renewable energy sources

investments in wind farms

construction of hotels

investments in hotels

CEO Summit