Who Owns Adriatic Bank?

The institution began in December 1990 as Centrobanka JSC Belgrade, a local commercial bank serving small and medium enterprises and private individuals through the turbulent post-Yugoslav years.

In February 2006, Cyprus-based Laiki Popular Bank acquired 90.4 percent and renamed it Laiki Bank. When Cyprus's banking crisis hit in 2013, Laiki's international operations were wound down, and in February 2017 Czech-based Expobank CZ took 100 percent of the shares, rebranding it Expobank a.d. Beograd.

Geopolitics then intervened. Expobank CZ was controlled by Russian interests, and after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, sanctions pressure forced divestment of its European banking assets. In April 2023 the Serbian bank was sold to Adriatic Capital LLC, and on September 1, 2023, it changed its name to Adriatic Bank JSC Belgrade, completing more than three decades of serial ownership changes.

Under the new brand the bank has repositioned as a universal retail and business bank. In 2025 it ranked as the 17th largest bank in Serbia with roughly 0.48 percent market share, but posted standout efficiency metrics: a 4.75 percent return on assets and 29.36 percent return on equity, making it the second most profitable bank relative to size in the market. Total assets stood at 33.4 billion dinars (roughly 285 million euros) with annual profit of 1.7 billion dinars.