The share of foreign capital into the banking assets of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), now estimated at 75% to 80%, is anything but an accident. This trend was encouraged by the movement of bank privatization. Trade observed over the past decade and to develop intermediary capable of mobilizing domestic savings. Above all, this figure demonstrates the potential growth in the region to major markets such as Russia, Poland or Hungary, and masks the presence of unequal foreign financial players.
Specifically, several German and Italian banks such as Commerzbank and Unicredit or Austrian and Swiss, the image of Erste Bank and Raiffeisen, are already well established, indicating that geographic proximity was a key factor in the conquest of the new Eastern markets. Also, funds provided by these states and for the CEECs in the 1990s have probably facilitated the implementation of their banks. Most surprising finding, the "global players" (HSBC, Citibank ...) have invested less, preferring other growth markets like China. Similarly, the French presence is limited, with the exception of Societe Generale which CEE a major focus of its development.
Yet these countries have managed to restore their economies and now represent a real alternative to the erosion of traditional markets of Western Europe. To get there, the CEECs, ordered to move towards the convergence criteria, have benefited from European integration, or at least his perspective, positively impacting their economies. Thus, before adopting the euro in 2007, Slovenia has seen its GDP grow by 5.2%, its unemployment rate drop to 6% and inflation at 2.6%.
