At a May 8 meeting, the board of directors of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) turned down the banking licence request of Financia Bank, 70 per cent owned by Bulgaria’s Alfa Finance Holding, the BNB said in a statement.

The entity, currently being registered, is yet to comply with the regulations of the Credit Institutions Act, the statement reads.

The central bank, however, is ready to review the banking licence application again if the financial institution finds as majority stakeholder an EU-registered entity with rich experience in the banking market.

Currently, the other shareholder in the bank is Delaware, US-based Gramercy Financial Group (30 per cent of the capital).

Alfa Finance chairman and biggest shareholder Ivo Prokopiev is also chairman of Economedia publishing group, the majority partner in Sofia Echo Media, which publishes The Sofia Echo.