Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Yes. The pandemic has changed our lives and the way we work. I very much regret that today's AGM can only be conducted in a virtual manner, and we can only present ourselves via the Internet. I was open the twenty seventh Annual General Meeting of Elste Bank Elste Group Bank AG, I take the chair, in accordance with Section 100 and sixteen(one) of the Stock Corporation Act.
In order to protect shareholders and other participants, the management board decided to make use of the new legal provision permitting the conduct of virtual annual general meetings. Today's AGM is, therefore, taking place as a virtual AGM within the meaning of the Corporate COVID-nineteen Act and the Corporate COVID-nineteen Regulation with due consideration given to the interests of the company and the participants. The AGM is being webcast in its entirety. I welcome the shareholders of our company who are following the AGM on the Internet and our guests. Holding the AGM as a virtual general meeting in accordance with the COVID-nineteen regulation leads to certain changes and modifications in the course of the AGM and in the exercise of shareholders' rights, which were described in the convocation and the information made available on the company's website and which will be dealt with in detail by Notary Breaks.
First of all,
the reports, in particular, the presentation by the management board and the proposed resolutions on all items on the agenda will be presented en bloc. Then the special proxies will be given the floor to read out motions for resolutions. The general debate will then be held. That is, the members of the Board of Management will read out and answer the questions received. After the questions on all items on the agenda have been answered, the respective motions are to be voted on in the order of the agenda.
I note that first, the convocation to today's AGM was published in due time in Wiener Zeitung on the October 13 in compliance with the provisions of Section 106 of the Stock Corporation Act and that second, it was the convocation was disseminated electronically by PreseText in accordance with Section 100 seven(three) of the Stock Corporation Act on the October 13. On the same day, also in accordance with the new stock exchange regulations, the convocation was sent to the shareholders via the intermediary chain pursuant to Section 180 Para two of the Austrian Stock Exchange Act. The documents to be disclosed pursuant to Sections 100 of the Stock Corporation Act were made available on the company's website on October 19, in particular, information about the organizational and technical requirements for participation pursuant to Section three Para three in conjunction with Section two Para four of the COVID-nineteen regulation, a question form and a proxy and destruction form for the special proxies pursuant to Section three para four of the COVID-nineteen Act. Notary BRICS is requested to notarize the resolutions of today's AGM to supervise the voting and to take minutes pursuant to Section 120 of the Stock Corporation Act.
I would now ask Notary BRICS to explain the modalities for the exercise of shareholders' voting rights at today's virtual AGM and the conduct of the AGM, which have already been made available on the company's website. Notary, please. Shareholders, in the convocation to the AGM of thirteen October twenty twenty, it was announced that today's AGM will be held as a virtual AGM without physical presence of shareholders. In addition, on October 19, information on the organizational and technical requirements for participation in the AGM pursuant to Section three Para three in conjunction with Section two Para four COVID-nineteen regulation was made accessible. Today's AGM will take place in the presence of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Friedrich Rutler Chairman of the Management Board, Bernd Hansfwald.
Members of the Management Board are Abramian, Ingo Blyer, Stefan Doerfle, Alexandra Haabella Drabek and Merne. The four special proxies: Nicolas Arenzammer, Michel Knapp, Christoph Nauer and Ewald Oberhammer and the lawyer, Richard Wolff, as legal adviser as well as myself as notary public. Peter Bozek has apologized and can't be present because he is in quarantine. As representative of the auditors, Asparcassen Prefums Verbamp, Gerhard Margetich is available to answer questions we may have by telephone and e mail.
He will be following the AGM via live stream. The representatives of the auditor at PWC, Wilczaps Bruifung, again, Behar, Dorothea Reitmann is available to answer questions by telephone or e mail. She's also following the AGM via the live stream. As representatives of the FMA, the state commissioners received an invitation to today's AGM and have the opportunity to follow it via the live stream. The state commissioners can communicate with us during the AGM and, if necessary, contact the management board or the Chairman of the AGM.
Now how will shareholders' rights be exercised today? The exercise of voting rights, the right to propose resolutions and the right to object can only be exercised by granting power of attorney and giving instructions to one of the special proxies proposed by the company. The right to information may also be exercised at the virtual AGM by the shareholders themselves or by their proxies by way of electronic communication in text form, by e mail, directly to the management board, exclusively via the e mail address fragen. Erstehabfasamblum. At.
As regards to the transmission and the contact of today's AGM in detail, the AGM will be transmitted in its entirety visually and acoustically in real time on the Internet pursuant to Section three Para four, COVID-nineteen regulation, in conjunction with Section 102 Para four Stock Corporation Act. As the group bank AG offers you two alternative way of accessing the Internet transmission In German, please select one of the Alstegroup Bank AG homepage, transmission one or two. If you experience any disruptions during transmission, please switch to the other provider. The AGM will be held in German and simultaneously interpreted into English, and we kindly ask you to visit the live stream of the English website. In addition, sign language interpreters will be available for the duration of the entire AGM.
By broadcasting the AGM on the Internet, all shareholders who so desire have the opportunity to follow the course of the AGM in real time, including the presentation by the management board and the answers to shareholders' questions. How can the right to information be exercised? The shareholders and their proxies authorized to exercise the right to information and the right to speak can submit their questions in text form to the management electronically within a certain time window after the opening of the AGM exclusively via the e mail address, fragen. Austehabforsamlung dot at. At today's AGM, these questions will be read out by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and answered by the Management Board.
Please use a simple e mail to the e mail address, wagen. Aerstehaltforsamblung. At. You are requested to send this e mail from the e mail address stated in the power of attorney in order to ensure quick verification of your identity. This e mail must contain the first name and surname or company name of the shareholders, the date of birth or the company register number of the shareholder and the securities account number in order to enable the Board of Directors to establish the identity of and compliance with the deposit certificate.
Please end your e mail with your name. That is the replica of the name signature according to Section thirteen(two) of the Stock Corporation Act. The shareholders, have the opportunity to react to developments at the AGM, for example, by asking additional or follow-up questions. The Chairman will structure the conduct of the AGM as he does for a meeting, both shareholder presence and will announce, in particular, a specific time by which questions can be asked. Now let me move on to the special proxies.
The shareholders also have the opportunity to change their instructions, in particular to submit motions for resolutions to vote or change their instructions regarding voting on one or several items of the agenda, but also to raise objections to one or several items of the agenda was the relevant special proxy even during the AGM up to a certain point in time. To this end, please use a simple e mail to the e mail address of your special proxy to whom you have also sent your power of attorney. The addresses are ardensammer. Aerstehauptforsamlung.atknab. Aerstehauptforsamlung.@naua.airstehauptforsamlung.@obahama.airstehauptforsamlung.at.
In this simple e mail, the person of the shareholders, that is first name and chairman of the shareholder or the company name of the shareholder, the date of birth or company name, a register of the shareholders in order to enable the special proxy to determine the identity of and compliance
with the requirements. Please end your e
mail with your name and indicate your securities account number. The e mail must be sent from the e mail address specified in the power of attorney. Please note that during the AGM, communication with your proxy is only possible by e mail. Availability of the proxy by telephone cannot be guaranteed. Guaranteed.
The time up to which instructions regarding motions, votes and objections are possible is determined by the Chairman in the course of the general meeting. This point in time will probably be close to the end of the general debate. Please note that it may be necessary to interrupt the virtual AGM for a short period of time in order to process questions put to the management board as well as instructions given by shareholders through the special proxies. This ends my summary of the modalities of today's virtual AGM.
Thank
you, Doctor. Briggs, for this explanation. As Chairman, I note that today's AGM will be carried out in the way that was listed in the convocation. On the organizational and technical prerequisites for participation, Section three, Para three in connection with Section two of the COVID-nineteen regulation. The list of participants will be finished before the first vote.
I will sign it and I will then announce the attendance. The list of participants will be electronically made available to the special proxy holders. And now we are going to start with the agenda, Item one on the agenda, presentation of the approved annual financial statements, the management's report and the consolidated corporate governance report of the management board, the non financial report, the draft resolution on the appropriation of profit as well as the report of the Supervisory Report for the financial year 2019 and presentation of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report for the financial year 2019. The approved financial statements, the management report, the corporate governance report, the non financial report and the proposal on the profit appropriation as well as the report of the Supervisory Board on the year 2019 were made available pursuant to Section 100 eight(three) and (four) of the Stock Corporation Act on the company's website. The approved financial statements, the management report and the consolidated financial statement were audited by the Schwarzenegger Bruifungsberbank as statutory auditor and the additional auditor, PwC Witcherzkrufung GEMBHA and received a nonqualified audit opinion.
The PVC Witcherzkrufung GEMBHA was also entrusted with auditing the Corporate Governance Report 2019 pursuant to Rules one-seventy six of the Austrian Corporate Governance Code with limited collateral. The audit has not given rise to any objections. The Deloitte audit, Wirtzschussenberger, was mandated with a restricted audit of the Non Financial Report 2019. The Supervisory Board has reviewed and approved the annual financial statement, the management report, the corporate governance report, the non financial report and the consolidated financial statements and the group management report. The annual financial statement was approved and adopted.
We therefore need no further approval by today's AGM. Dear shareholders, now a short flashback of 2019 and 2020 from the position of the Supervisory Board. Our long standing Non Executive Director, Brian O'Neill, died on the 12/20/2019 after short and serious illness, which filled us with great sadness. O'Neill was not only an internationally renowned financial expert, which enriched us with his knowledge, he was also a loyal friend of the Ester Group, whom we miss very much. We will always keep fond memories of him.
On the Supervisory Board in 2019, there were a number of changes. Matthias Buhler, Henriette Eger Stahlhuber and Michel Suter Ruides joined us as excellent finance, digitalization and governance experts as new members of the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board was left in 2019 by Elisabeth Blylebenkoren, and she also did not stand for re election. My special thanks to her for her excellent and long standing support. At the end of this AGM, the mandates of Wilhelm Rasinger and Gunther Gris will come to an end.
William Rasinger has been instrumental since 02/2005. He worked for us and helped us for more than fifteen years. Gunther Gris was a member of the Supervisory Board since 2014. I should like to thank both gentlemen for their valuable and committed work on the Supervisory Board. Our thanks also go to Andreas Streiche, our CEO.
After twenty six years, he left the company on the 12/31/2019. Under him, the Erste Bank developed into a large bank from local beginnings. And now I would like to read a message by Mr. Rasinger that he has sent us. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, For over sixty years, I've been a customer of the Erste Spakase or Erste Bank, and I'm closely connected with this bank.
I only think of Spalefrou and Weltsparthage. I was there from the first hour as a non Executive Director. I'm extremely grateful to Andreas Streiche that he has enabled me through his initiative and the signal to the private free float and the capital market to be confirmed three times in my function for fifteen years altogether. The management team around Bernhard Spalte is well positioned in order to resolve all the problems inherent in these difficult times. I should also like to thank Friedrich Roedler, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, who with circumspection, commitment and skill and profound knowledge has been an important pillar of the bank.
I'm convinced that better times are ahead for the shareholders. Thank you for the shared path, and I wish you all the best for the future. And I would also like to wish Mr. Asinger only the best for the future. Let me continue as to the composition and independence of the Supervisory Board, the criteria for the independence, the working method, the number of committees and the remit, the meetings of the Supervisory Board and the focus of the activities.
As to this, please let me refer to the corporate governance report. For the activities of the audit committee, let me refer to the annual financial statement 2019. Let me just mention that the Supervisory Board had 38 meetings and was informed quite comprehensively, enabling the Supervisory Board to realize all the tasks entrusted that the Supervisory Board is entrusted with. And the Supervisory Board could also convince itself from the orderly conduct of the management. In supplement to the report on Supervisory Board, let me inform you that the management board has presented a new proposal for the appropriation of profits.
After a review and the Supervisory Board actually agreed to the new profit appropriation. Let me just also mention a few words on the COVID-nineteen pandemic and how we continued our work as Supervisory Board. Although we had difficulties in meeting personally, intensified our cooperation on the Supervisory Board since March 2020. The pandemic challenged us in keeping up the flow of communication. All planned and additional meetings could be held either virtually or in hybrid form and all necessary resolutions could be taken.
It was also ensured that through informal meetings between the CEO and the Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board and current reports, the impact of the pandemic on the ERSE Group, on the customers and the employees could be established, could be discussed in detail. I should also like to thank the staff members of the IRstic Group who managed the situation as best as they could. And I should also like to thank the team of our health center managed by Eva Helter. The Austrian Corporate Governance Code prescribes it, I will have to inform you now about the principles of our remuneration system. Remuneration of the members of the management board includes fixed performance linked and other components, the latter consisting of contributions to the pension fund, the provident fund and various contributions in kind.
In 2019, the performance related remuneration and share equivalents, that is the so called phantom shares, were paid out for the past years or allocated. Since as of 2010, the performance linked part of the remuneration is spread over five years, in line with the regulatory provisions and will only be paid out under certain conditions. With a view to the performance related part for material risk takers, that is members of the management board, heads of divisions, people assuming responsibilities relating to risks, a maximum of 60% automatically distributed, half of it in cash and the other half in Phantom shares. Phantom shares are paid out on the basis of the weighted average daily share price of Erste Bank in the previous year and are then paid out one year later, provided the set targets are met. The remaining component of performance linked remuneration is spread over five years according to the same principle.
That is to say, in the second year, 4% are paid out in cash and 4% in Phantom shares. This is then repeated in the subsequent years. For other employees, there is the subsequent bonus system, which depends on the company performance and the personal performance. A, bonuses for employees in the securities trading unit, they are either paid out once or the payout is spread over two years depending on the sustained performance. B, for employees in the branches, there is an annually and quarterly bonus depending on the individual performance.
At least 40% of the targets are measured according to qualitative criteria and a maximum of 60% according to quantitative criteria. For all other employees, there are onetime performance premiums. No employee share ownership program is offered at the moment. The fixed remuneration of the Management Board amounted to €5,325,000 in 2019. Other remuneration was thousand €637,400,000 Performance related remuneration amounting to €911,000 were paid out for 2018.
Performance related remuneration amounting to €1,000,156,600,000 was paid out. The noncash performance related remuneration in 2019 amounted to the years before 2018, 33,344 and for 2018, 33,075 share equivalents, that is to say, phantom shares. With a view to the EBA statement on dividends, distribution, share buybacks and variable remuneration, On the 03/31/2020, Supervisory Board decided that the variable remuneration, let's say, the bonuses in 2019 will be paid out non cash in the form of Phantom shares and a considerable part of the performance related compensation will be deferred. Thus, the variable compensation for the executive directors for 2019 is linked to the development of the share price of LST Group. Comparable regulations for variable compensation also applied for the management boards of the subsidiaries.
The an adequate adjustment of the variable part of the is now linked to the risks, which result from the COVID-nineteen pandemic. The Supervisory Board remuneration paid out for the year 2018 and 2019 amounted to €840,000 Moreover, the attendance fees of AGM twenty nineteen was approved with 1,000 per meeting of the Supervisory Board and the committees. Further details on the remuneration system are found in the corporate governance report, which was provided on our website. And you'll also find the details for the remuneration policy to be voted on. In connection with today's proposed remuneration policy, let me explain as far as it's a declared goal of the Aztec Bank to promote a sustainable and positive development of the company.
Thus, the long term interest of the shareholders, but also of the employees should be secured. That was a considerable part of the performance related compensation will be deferred and then paid out over several years. Thus, the long term interests in the remuneration policy are being considered adequately. The principles do not encourage taking risks, which go beyond the risks approved by the Supervisory Board. The management quality of the executive directors, will also be evaluated, including the ESG criteria.
The individual achievement of objectives will be assessed by the Supervisory Board. And in addition to financial performance targets, the non financial criteria such as diversity environment and social responsibility are being considered. Moreover, starting with 2020, sustainability was set as one of the performance targets by the CEO in order to underline the long term group wide promotion and strengthening of sustainability as an important constituent of our corporate strategy. I'm now asking Mr. Doerfleur to make his report on own shares.
In 07/7249 shares were paid out with 7,187,000 shares were sold. The market making was the result. And 21,000,006 and €30,000,000 and the share capital was 0.4%. As to own shares for 2019, there is an annual profit of €1,175,203 Thank you, Mr. Doerfleur, for his report.
And this takes us to the report by the CEO, Bernd Hartzpelt. I'm asking Mr. Sppelt for his presentation on the financial year 2019.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. A cordial welcome to our AGM. It's unusual to report on 2019 on the 11/10/2020.
I'd like to outline the motivation that has induced us to do so. When the health crisis broke out in early March this year, we asked ourselves what to do with our AGM, how to deal with a health hazard for people, for employees, for shareholders in a situation where we didn't know how to cope with this problem, a situation in which we didn't know how profound the crisis was, how long it would last, when it would end. In this context, we said we are going to postpone the AGM. At that time, we hoped that in the 2020, we would be able to have a physical AGM because we wanted a physical AGM. We are a new team, and we wanted to have a physical discourse.
At that time, we thought that by the fourth quarter, the health crisis would be under control. And then we said that in the fourth quarter, we would know more about the intensity of the crisis and its impact on our profitability, on our capitalization and our liquidity. So we thought that we would know more by that time. Now we are in the fourth quarter, and we are in the midst of a second setback, a second lockdown. Nevertheless, we know a great deal more about the disease.
We know more about the economic forecasts. And today, we are able to make a proposal for profit distribution, which is very clear, but I will come to that later. What are we talking about when we are talking about the business year 2019? We're talking about a business year, which as far as the result goes, a result that was achieved under the leadership of Andreas and it's an excellent result. Andreas Treiche handed over a bank, a business, which is sound, strategically well positioned and we're most grateful for that.
We greatly appreciate that. We owe that to him. Looking back to 2019, it seems a long time ago, but nevertheless, it's important and it is the subject to be dealt with by today's AGM. The image you can see here is from Slovakia from the Tatra Mountains, by the way. Now how did we start into start to 2019?
This was a perfect illustration of the fact that our strategy, which we've been pursuing for twenty three years, is absolutely right. With regard Europe and Eastern Europe, in particular, as our growth engine, you can see that all our markets in Central And Eastern Europe were growing significantly faster than Western Europe. Austria had a growth rate of 1.3%, but Hungary in terms of GDP, but Hungary was going 3x as fast and 3x as strongly. This is not just a snapshot. It's a confirmation of a trend which we've been seeing for quite some time.
All our economies were growing fast. They were growing steadily. They were sturdier than Western European economies. Domestic demand was an essential growth factor. And although slightly weaker than in 2018, nevertheless, it confirmed that we were doing business in the right region for us.
When we look at other conditions, again, we find confirmation of the fact that we are doing business in the right region. The labor market is characterized by almost full employment. Of course, keeping the costincome ratio under control is a challenge in that labor market context, but it's a sign of strength. It's a labor market that needs more labor than is currently available. And that was true of all our markets.
At the same time, as you can see on the right hand side of this chart, all our economies compared with the financial crisis ten years ago entered the new situation with very sturdy figures and the same holds for 2019 when no one knew about what would be coming. Our state debt was improving, trade deficits were improving. All these countries were characterized by very strong and sturdy financial management. When we look at our own business, you can see how well balanced our business model is. Is a wealth of figures, I know.
But essentially, there is only one important element. It's the loan to deposit ratio. Our business, which is a simple business throughout the region, is characterized by the fact that our lending business loans originated to retail customers, SMEs and corporate customers is covered by local saving deposits. And this makes us resilient in a period Although the interest rate situation is difficult, zero interest or even negative interests, so we still have the unbroken inflow of savings deposits that refinance our loans.
We saw credit growth last year. There was no credit crunch, nothing whatsoever. And we had an increase in our savings deposits. When we look at our operating result, this is very important because we always have to ask ourselves, do we have a business model that works? Are we engaging in business that makes sense in the long term?
What you can see here is that we have a very strong business model. Operating income increased by almost 5%. Operating expenses are lower than operating income. So for the first time, we generated a significantly improved cost income ratio. I'll come back to that later.
For the first time in years, in our net fee and commission income, we exceeded the €2,000,000,000 mark. This is very important because on the Capital Markets Day in November 2019, we said that net fee and commission income is a major part of our strategy. Money that is being that is coming in is to be invested profitably. And in the field of asset management, we want to grow significantly. And we also want to grow in terms of insurance business, be it in providing for old age or health insurance or insurance against other risks, we want to grow there as well, although the market penetration is still low.
This was something that worked very well already in 2019, and it will become a stable anchor of our business strategy, and it will remain so in the years to come. When we look at the figures across our geographic segments, we can see that operating results have been going up. The costincome ratio for the first time dropped to 59%, for the first time below 60%. On our Capital Markets Day in 2019, we said that we're aiming at a costincome ratio of 55% by 2024. Our income flows are being attacked.
The and the net interest income is depressed because of the general interest landscape. We stick to this target, although it hasn't become easier regardless of COVID. And net fee and commission income is something we regard as an essential element of our business model. When we look at the cost of risk, in 2019, similarly to 2018, the impression was that there is no more risk. In 2018, we had negative risk costs.
In 2019, we had negligible risk costs on the basis of a situation of a positive economic development in all countries. Over five years, we saw net releases of provisions. We had positive developments, micro and macroeconomic developments, and you could get the impression that risk is no longer in existence. But when we get to 2020, I can tell you that risk hasn't disappeared. It has hidden well for quite some time and this is part of our business model.
It used to be part of our business model and it will be so in the future. Last year, we had an extremely positive result as regards risk costs. This is also reflected in our nonperforming loan ratios, which declined to 2.5%. I've been with this bank for almost thirty years, and I can't remember a year where we reported 2.5% nonperforming loan ratio. And our coverage ratio last year were 74% for distressed loans, and that has gone up even further.
It's no surprise, it's no miracle. It's due to the fact that we are a reflection of our economy. When our economy is doing well, when order books are full, when employment is high, when revenues and profits are good, There are few loans in default, but when the situation turns around, it will be different. So what needs to be remembered about 2019 is that we have an excellent portfolio. We have a well balanced risk policy.
We never saw a credit crunch. We were never afraid of originating loans. We kept growing, but we were growing in a way that was never irresponsible. Now our net result last year, despite the fact that we had a good operating result and low risk costs, it declined by 18%. Why was that so?
There were two one off effects. In Romania, the Supreme Court passed pronounced a judgment on building societies saying that customers must be paid out. We are fighting against this judgment. It cost us €150,000,000 And we had always been operating within the framework of laws on building societies. And the second thing is, in December 2019, the bank levy was doubled.
This had two effects. One effect was that we had to take the higher bank levy into account in our result. And the second thing was that we had to book goodwill impairment in the amount of a double digit million amount. So we booked almost €1,500,000,000 in terms of goodwill sorry, in terms of the higher bank levy. The bank levy, which was doubled in 2019, was completely abolished at the beginning of 2020.
So in 2019, we generated a net result of €1,500,000,000 and a net profit. And this year, in the context of this net profit and in the context of the regulatory environment, we are proposing distribution of a dividend of 0 EUR0.75 on two conditions. The conditions are as follows: the recommendation of the regulator not to pay out a dividend on condition that this recommendation is lifted and on condition that there are no other restrictions on profit distribution. The deadline for that is 02/08/2021. If these two conditions are lifted by that time, we're going to pay out the dividend of EUR0.75 per share.
That sends out the message that in terms of capitalization and profitability and liquidity, we are in a position to pay out a dividend. It's a justified expectation on the part of shareholders to receive a dividend. This is something that will have to be discussed and voted on today and we are convinced that we are doing the right thing. We are not going to violate any negative recommendation by the regulator. We are acting within the regulatory environment.
But in terms of fundamentals, we were able to pay out such a dividend. And if we are allowed to do so and if the shareholders agree, we will pay out a dividend. Now let me move on to capital and capital accretion. Capital accretion is was continuing throughout 2019. Our CET1 ratio is 14.7% currently.
We do have higher risk weighted assets because we originated more loans and loans constitute a higher risk. Nevertheless, we want to continue along these lines. We are profitable. We are strong in terms of capital and strong in terms of liquidity and our business model works well. Now I'd like to say a few words about 2020.
We can look back on three quarters of the year. The year didn't go as planned. The year didn't go as expected. I think that holds for all of us. The first few months of 2020 in fact, the first two months were quite relaxed.
We saw a continuation of things in 2019. We had robust growth rates, full employment, a functioning business model and then corona hit us. And that has changed the world. It's not been a European phenomenon, it's a global phenomenon. It hit us all in different ways.
When we look at the consequences, what happened in 2020? We had an excellent start to the business year. Then in March, all of a sudden, health crisis broke out in our countries. We had never seen anything like that before. No vaccination, no therapy available.
And the essential strategic response of all our governments was to say, well, if this health hazard cannot be coped with through vaccination, we have to close down the economy. And therefore, governments in all our countries imposed a strict lockdown. The economy was brought to a standstill except for critical infrastructure. Everything was brought down to zero except for critical infrastructure. And for the first time, it became clear that banks are part of critical infrastructure.
So our branches remained open. Our services continued to be provided. And we were quick in realizing that we had to protect the health of our customers and our employees. This was our first priority. So very, very quickly, we changed over to home office systems at the campus in Vienna.
Out of 5,000 people, only 150 remained here. All of us were working from home. It worked very well in technological terms. And as Chairman Roedler said, we have a highly competent health center here which helped us cope with these difficulties. We were able to protect our customers, our employees.
We had everything under control. So critical infrastructure remained operational, but everything else was shut down. So we continue providing our services. And then all our countries to varying degrees developed similar programs, debt moratoria for borrowers who were not able to pay for quite some time, government guaranteed loans where possible. And we also reacted quickly to a situation which otherwise would have created a gap in liquidity.
Whatever you think about these measures, I would say that the first lockdown was extremely effective. Of course it was costly, very costly, but it's something that was essential in reacting to this critical and unknown phenomenon. Then the summer came. Everything was more relaxed. Infection rates went down significantly as a result of the lockdown.
People were able to move outdoors. Everything looked as if the crisis was over. But it isn't over. I said earlier, it takes a lot of patience to overcome this crisis, but it will be overcome. And I think it's absolutely essential not to shame and blame one another, not to ask who did things wrong.
We have to ask ourselves what can we contribute to the overcoming of the crisis. So solidarity is essential. We need to outline a path for us to move on in the months to come. And we shouldn't close our eyes to the fact that the economy has gone down hugely. Does it help to inject capital into the economy?
I think what we need is equity in order to come out stronger of this crisis. And we support the creation of a framework that enables SMEs to have access to capital. We're not going to depart from this position because we think it's essential. Now let's take a quick look at the first nine months of 2020. Always in the context of the crisis of the century And considering that we are going through the crisis of the century, our operating result is extremely sound.
Again, it shows that our business model is the right one. We see a slight decline in operating income. We were able to reduce our operating expenses. And again, there is no credit crunch. And this holds not just for us, but also for other banks.
Banks want to provide finance. The question really is how confident can we be that credits are taken out. Are businesses and people willing to finance investments, we are there to help. When you look at risk provisions, of course, they dominate the success of our business. There are two things to be said about that.
This year again, we find ourselves in a situation in which we report a record low in our NPL ratio. We still thrive on an economy that was booming. Liquidity gaps were filled. But in the second quarter of this year, we booked high risk provisions because we know that next year we are going to see a higher number of insolvencies and higher unemployment rates. This is what we anticipated.
We didn't want to wait for it to happen. And we anticipate it this year, and this reflects the depth of the crisis. We have to be aware of the fact that crisis will not just go away. It will cause real damage. It will hit not only our profitability, it will hit us also personally and economically.
We have to find a common way out of the crisis in order to return to a growth path. We still have an NPL ratio of 2.4%. It won't remain like that. We're going to see a higher NPL ratio as we go along. When you look at the net result, the first nine months of twenty nineteen and the first nine months of twenty twenty, there are three essential aspects.
I mentioned the risk costs, which have been built up in order to anticipate what's going to happen next year. We also had a significantly worse trading and fair value result this year. This is not surprising. We had massive volatility in the first quarter and difficulties on the stock exchanges as the crisis broke out. But we had significantly better other results because what happened in Romania with regard to the building societies last year is not happening again.
And the goodwill impairment in Slovakia, which we had to book last year, we won't be seeing again this year. So we had a sturdy operating result, which again confirms our business model. Risk costs were high and the trading result was worse. Therefore, our net income dropped by almost 48%. But again, it shows that we are doing the right thing.
Finally, about this year's result. We are now at a CET1 ratio of 14.1. This justifies us in planning to pay out a dividend. It also allows us to look at potential acquisitions because we think in our region, Austria and the Balkans, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, we will be seeing potential targets. Banks will be up for sale.
And if they fit to our business model, if they are in line with our strategy and if they are capital accretive, we will take a closer look at them. So we will be acting out of a position of strength. Now I'd like to show you a brief video. I suppose you've seen this video before. You may wonder why we are showing a commercial at the AGM.
There's an answer to that. We bow to those entrepreneurs in our region who we profoundly respect for their courage. They're working around the clock, assuming their responsibility, innovative, creating jobs. They are the backbone of our economy. I deeply respect these people for doing what is good for all of us.
This is what we want to support because we want to preserve this attitude and we all want to play a role in this context. I think it's important for us to remember who we are and what our role is in this critical phase of an economic downturn. I'm showing you four figures on this chart, and they express what is a major concern of ours. We've seen loan growth in the amount of 2.6%. What does that mean?
Even in the crisis of the century, even when everything is being shut down, there is no credit crunch. We still want to originate loans. We do originate loans. We don't withdraw. Second point, at the same time, although the interest rate environment is at a record low, We have seen a 6.3% in our deposits, so customers trust us.
And trust and confidence is an essential pillar of our business model. We've supported over 1,000,000 customers in our region since the beginning of the lockdown. And in the context of moratoria and debt relief, we have implemented measures in the amount of €18,400,000,000 in the COVID-nineteen context. So we try to live up to our responsibility and we try to do the right thing. On this chart, I'd like to show you how our economies are doing and I'd also like to show you the loan volumes.
Let me single out one example. All other countries follow the same model. Look at Austria. We expect GDP to shrink by 6.2%. But next year, we will be seeing a recovery.
4.3% is the forecast. Now we'll see how much it's going to be after the second lock down. But this year already, we have seen growth in our loan book, in Erste Bank Osterreich and in the savings banks. And you can see a similar thing in all other countries: a steep decline of GDP in all countries. But next year, we're going to see growth in each of our countries.
This is a health crisis that has been transformed into a real economic crisis, but the crisis will be over at some point in time. Yesterday, we heard that a vaccine is about to be available. I don't know yet what to think about that. But the crisis will be over at some point in time and then a recovery will set in because the fundamentals of our strategy haven't changed at all. We ourselves and you can see that on our website we have developed our own index, we call it the CE Recovery Index, which is published weekly and on the basis of input factors which are not measured by other indices, we try to measure how we are doing.
We are using input factors like electricity consumption, air pollution, mobility in the food sector, mobility at the workplace. And we try to establish for our entire region what's happening on a grassroot basis. And we can see that after a steep decline, we are seeing a kind of upswing. It's not linear. There is no linear recovery, but the curve is moving upward.
And our business model is going to benefit from that. If I may, let me attempt a brief outlook. So this year, we saw a steep drop in GDP in all our markets. Next year, we expect to see a nonlinear recovery, but it will still be a recovery. Now we are going through a second lockdown.
The government is taking certain measures. We will learn how to live with this situation. We stick to our outlook as regards risk costs. As Alexander Haviland Drabeck said very early this year, we will be between sixty five and eighty basis points. Now we are at 70, but we're not going to change our outlook.
And we think that next year, risk costs will be lower than this year. This is only logical because this year, we've already anticipated risk costs for 2021, and we have digested them. And next year is going to be fragile, but a year of recovery. This year, the net result will be significantly below that of 2019 because of the high risk costs. And this year, we are going to propose a profit distribution, which we think is a strong statement on the part of the management board and the supervisory board that we want to live up to the expectations of our shareholders.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude my report. In the course of last year's Jubilee year, I'm sure you heard a lot about the development and the history of Alstair Group. Now, if I venture a look to the future, I'm doing so not without referring to our basis and the purpose of our company as the group was established with the objective of generating and disseminating prosperity. This still holds for our group. We take this mandate seriously.
I'm convinced that prosperity must rest on several pillars and one of those pillars is trust and confidence. What you can see here are examples of eight of our 16,000,000 customers. One of them comes from Vorhall Berg, the westernmost province of Austria. During the past two hundred years we have addressed the most varied challenges and mastered them. And we're convinced that together with our customers, we will always master the COVID-nineteen challenge and we will emerge stronger from this crisis.
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you, Mr. Spike, for your report. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I should also like to thank all members of the management board, also those who have left us in the meantime and all employees of our company for their great commitment and the success for 2019, also over the past months and the rather aggravating conditions of the pandemic. And this takes me to the second item on the agenda, resolution on the appropriation of 2019 profit. The Management Board and the Supervisory Board propose the AGM may pass the following resolution.
The profit available for distribution recognized in the company's financial accounts at the 12/31/2019 amounting to €644,700,000 will be appropriated as follows: For each share entitled to a dividend, a dividend of €0.75 will be disbursed on the dividend payment day, adding up to a total of no more than €322,350,000 provided that on the February 8, no mandatory legal ban on dividends is in effect and second, in the company's own reckoning, no recommendation of the European Central Bank applicable to the company opposes the payment of a dividend. To the extent that the profit available for distribution is not to be disbursed on the dividend payment day in accordance with above calculation, it shall be carried forward to new account. The company is not entitled to any dividend payments from own shares. The dividend payment date is the 02/15/2021. And now I give the floor to Stefan Doerfer to explain this appropriation of profits.
Let me mention the following justification. The European Central Bank published its recommendation ECB 2039 on dividend distributions during the COVID-nineteen pandemic and repealing recommendation ECB 20 twenty-one on the 03/27/2020. The purpose of the recommendation is to conserve capital so that credit institutions can continue to fulfill their role in funding households, small and medium businesses and corporations amid the coronavirus disease twenty nineteen. Holding the opinion that the level of economic uncertainty remains elevated, the European Central Bank decided to extend this recommendation on the 01/01/2021. In its view, distributions need to be postponed or canceled in order to preserve the capital position of credit institutions.
It is important to keep the capital position of these companies as this measure is temporary in nature and warranted only by these exceptional circumstances, the European Central Bank intends to decide in 2020 on the approach to be followed after the first of January twenty twenty one. The recommendation issued by the European Central Bank is addressed to credit institutions, that is, to significant supervised entities and significant supervised groups, as defined in points sixteen and twenty two of Article two of Regulation four six eight two zero one four and to the national competent authorities with regard to less significant supervised entities and less significant supervised groups, as defined in Point 7.23 of Article II of Regulation EU No. Four sixty eighttwenty 14, that is ECB twenty fourteenseventeen, but not to shareholders who do not fall into any of the aforementioned categories. As the group's dividend policy is dictated by the bank's profitability, growth expectations and capital requirements, Except for 2011 and 2014, dividend payments have been made every year since 1997. The management board would have proposed an unqualified disbursement of dividends this year too had there been no COVID-nineteen pandemic.
However, as the recommendation of the European Central Bank cited above is addressed to the company, the Management Board has resolved to defer to this recommendation. The management board thus proposes not to pay out the dividend until after the first of January twenty twenty one as there is currently no recommendation for the period after the 01/01/2021 that opposes disbursements. However, in its recommendation, the European Central Bank announced that it will decide on the 2021 on the approach to be followed after the 01/01/2021 in consideration of the economic environment, the stability of the financial system and the level of certainty around capital planning. In view of how the COVID-nineteen pandemic is currently playing out, as explained by our CEO, and the ongoing economic uncertainty, the Management Board expects the European Central Bank to either extend its recommendation of the July 27 or to issue a new recommendation, possibly based on differentiated criteria. It is impossible to say from today's perspective what such a new recommendation will look like.
It is particularly unclear which criteria this recommendation will include, how compliance with the criteria will be determined and who will assess this, which company data will have to be used and how long the review of the criteria will take and what procedure will be applicable in the event of differences in opinion. The management board deems it imperative in the company's interest to comply with any future recommendations issued by the ECB concerning dividend disbursements. A dividend will only be paid after the 01/01/2021 if no such recommendation provides otherwise. As there is no knowing at this present point in time whether a new recommendation will follow or what such a recommendation will likely contain, the company will need closely consider all the facts with our due care and determine whether the conditions set forth in Section two of the resolution on the appropriation of profit presented to it by the AGM have been met for the disbursement of a dividend. Unless the company is able to determine with reasonable assurance on the 02/08/2021 at the start of the day that the payment of a dividend is compatible with the recommendation of the ECB, no dividend will be paid out.
This will also apply if the material criteria for a disbursement have been met, but not all formal criteria have been fulfilled yet. The company reserves the right to call an extraordinary general meeting if necessary. One short term supplement. Unlike previous years, the disbursement of dividends will be subject to withholding tax in accordance with the tax regulations. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Doerfleur. Now we come to Item three on the agenda, resolution on granting discharge to the members of the Management Board with regard to the financial year 2019. The Management Board and the Supervisory Board propose the following. The Management Board members of the Estee Group Bank are granted discharge for the financial year 2019.
And now Item four, resolution on granting discharge to the members of the Supervisory Board with regard to the financial year 2019. The following resolution should be passed. The Supervisory Board members of the Erste Group Bank are granted discharge for the financial year 2019. And now to Item five on the agenda. The resolution appointment of an additional auditor to audit the annual financial statements and the management report as well as the consolidated financial statements and the group management report for the financial year 2021.
The following resolution should be taken in addition to Sparkasen Bruifungs for funding its capacity as statutory auditor. PWC Wirthasen Bruifung Gesenbehar will be appointed auditor of the company's annual financial statement, the management report as well as the consolidated financial statements and group management report for the financial year 2021 in accordance with Section one of the audit rules for savings banks annexed to Section 24 Savings Bank Act. And now to the justification. In 2018, PwC was appointed additional auditor on the annual financial statements and management's report as well as the consolidated financial statements and the group management report for the financial year 2019 by the AGM of the Astegroup AG. Among other activities, the Audit Committee of the Astegroup Bank AG supervisory board regularly reviewed and monitored the independence of PWC, particularly in connection with the additional services provided to Erste Group, the non audit services pursuant to Section 63 Para four of the Bank and Banking Act during the financial year 2019.
After consideration of the threats to the independence of PwC and submission of the statement of independence in accordance with Section two seventy Commercial Code by PwC Virgil Spojfunkenbija, Audit Committee's recommendation to the Supervisory Board was to renew the audit mandate given to PWC as additional auditor of the annual financial statements and management report as well as the consolidated financial statements and group management report for the financial year 2021. The fees invoiced by the auditors of Erste Group Vanke K and their subsidiaries for the year 2019 can be read up in the Erste Group Annual Report for Financial Year 2019. PWC's fees indicated in this report include the services of PWC and of companies belonging to the PWC network. And this takes me to item six, elections to the Supervisory Board. The number of the terms of Maximilien Hardik, Winterglas and William Brassinger, will be expiring at the end of the AGM on the November 10.
Brian O'Neill passed away on 12/20/2019. Therefore, four members would need to be appointed at today's AGM to ensure that the number of Supervisory Board members totals 13, again, like after the election at the AGM in 2019. However, the Supervisory Board proposes to reduce the number of members appointed by the AGM to 12 so that three members will have to be appointed today. The proposal endorsing a decrease in the number of members must be voted on prior to the election of members, with a number of Supervisory Board members appointed by the AGM holding at least 12 at least four positions must be filled by women and men each in order to satisfy the minimum proportionality requirements set forth by Section 80 six(seven) Stock Corporation Act. If the Supervisory Board is staffed according to the election proposal below, that is capital representatives only, it will be composed of four women and eight men, thus complying with the minimum proportionality requirements set forth by Section 80 six(seven) of the Stock Corporation Act.
No objection pursuant to Section 80 six(nine) Stock Corporation Act was raised neither by the majority of capital representatives nor by the majority of employee representatives so that the full Supervisory Board's compliance with the minimum proportionality requirement generally suffices. At present, employee representatives in the Supervisory Board number three women and three men. It is hereby proposed to re elect Supervisory Board member Maximilian Hardek. He has been a member of the Erste Group Bank Supervisory Board since 2015. He has accepted to sign for re election.
Gunter Gris will no longer be available so that compliance with the age limit specified in subsection twelve(one) of the Articles of Association is ensured. It is further proposed to elect Friedrichsanta and Andreas Schiemour. Unfortunately, Maximilian Hardik, Friedrichs Szanter and Andras Schiemauer cannot personally introduce themselves at this AGM. I will therefore briefly introduce these three gentlemen. And afterwards after the CVs of the three candidates, we will see a short introduction video, which was also published on the website on our website.
I will start with Maximilian Harlik. He studied agricultural sciences at the Wagensteferne campus of Technischeunen Lecitiet Munsingenfreising, Germany. After working for the Vienna AWT Trade and Finance Corporation, Hardik devoted himself to managing his family's estate. Maximilian Hardik has been a member of the Supervisory Board of the STSCHWARKHASE PRIVADSTIVTUNK and the Supervisory Board of Ceska Spasiten and member of the Supervisory Board of the Rode SparkHASE Bank Actgenke's agent of Innsbruck. For further information, please refer to his CV available on our website.
I will show you a video now to introduce Maximilian Radek. I'm in charge of our family estate. In the 20s, I joined our Schwarferen. And what fascinated me the most was the founding idea of the bank, which was founded two hundred years ago by a priest and by citizens with a name to help people who have no banking connection and to provide such a connection for these people in order to increase the prosperity. I gladly took up this idea because I have a lot of economic common sense and can contribute to this good path that the Erste Bank has had over two hundred years.
Thank you. And this takes me to Friedrich Sandler. He studied psychology and educational science. He has been managing director of Anton Pa GEMBH, an Austrian company domiciled in Graz that develops, produces and distributes analytical instruments for laboratories and process analytical technology and provides custom tailored automation and robotics solutions. Since 2017, Mr.
Sandner has been Chair of the Supervisory Board of Stehrer Mergegebanken Sparkasen Aktzenge Saleschaft. For further information, please refer to the extensive CV available on our website since 10/19/2020. A short video introducing Mr. Sandtner. Very good day, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm Frieder Sandner. Let me briefly introduce myself. By profession, I'm a managing director of a grads high-tech company Anton Parc S and Bihar. We're active worldwide. We have $4.00 9,000,000 in turnover.
We teach with technology. Each beer has been measured by us, soft drinks and chocolate, etcetera. All this goes through other hands. In addition to this main task, I am the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Soleimide in AG and also to your group. Thank you.
The third candidate is Andre Schimor. He has a degree in international finances from the Budapest Business School. In the course of his career in the financial sector, he served as CEO of Creditsdal Securities in Budapest, CEO of Creditsdal Investment Bank in Vienna, CEO of Deloitte, Hungary and he also served as Governor of the Hungarian National Bank. In July 2013, he moved to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, where he served as Vice President and CFO from 2014 to 2016 and as Senior Vice President, CFO and COO from 2016 to 2019. From 1998 onwards to '22, Antoine Schine also chaired the Advisory Board of the Budapest Stock Exchange and sat on the Board of Directors of Deloitte Central Europe from 2002 to 02/2006.
I also refer to the extensive CVA level available on our website. And now Antoine Sima will introduce himself in his video.
Construction and development, where I worked for six years in various positions, most recently as CFO and COO. I spent most of my adult life in the banking industry. I was privileged to serve as the Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary in a most challenging period between 02/2013. During the 1990s, I set up and led the investment banking subsidiary of Creditanstadt and later Banc Austria in Hungary and subsequently I moved to Vienna to head up the investment banking operations across the region for the group. I would be most interested to work for the Erste Group in an oversight capacity, utilizing my experience both of the various segments of the financial industry and my knowledge of the Central East European region.
Thank
you. The Nomination Committee has established compliance with the reliability criteria and has also followed the EVA guidelines and the internal policy of ST Group Banker gave for the selection and aptitude assessment of Supervisory Board members, the suitability policy of Erste Groupe Bank AG, the Nomination Committee is obliged to carry out suitability assessments of the proposed candidates. In performing these suitability assessments, the Nomination Committee has established compliance with the reliability criteria, the presence of sufficient theoretical and practical experience, sufficient time availability as well as the demonstration of sufficient independence, the lack of any conflict of interest and conformity with the diversity criteria. Furthermore, all review was carried out to determine whether all the candidates contribute to the collective suitability of the full Supervisory Board. The Nomination Committee has come to a positive decision for all candidates and has recommended that the Supervisory Board propose the election and re election of the proposed candidates at the AGM.
Supervisory Board has endorsed this assessment. Candidates who have already served a five year term of office of the Supervisory Board members are to be appointed for the maximum term provided by law. For candidates who are to be appointed to the Supervisory Board of Erste Group Bank for the first time, a three year term of office is provided. The candidates proposed by the Supervisory Board were selected on the basis of the criteria set forth in the Stock Corporation Act and the Federal Banking Act, including the diversity provision under Section 80 six(seven) of the Stock Corporation Act. The candidates proposed by the Supervisory Board have submitted to the declaration required under Section 80 seven(two) Stock Corporation Act, This declaration is available on the company's website referenced in the company register.
I'm now reading out the proposed resolution. Foreign The resolution should be taken. The number of members of the Supervisory Board appointed by the AGM will be decreased from 13 to 12 members. Second, Maximilian Hardik, born on the 02/26/1966, is appointed to the Supervisory Board of Erste Bank AG effective from the end of the AGM until the end of the AGM due to resolve on the granting of discharge for financial year 2024. Third, Mr.
Friedrich Sandner, born on 02/07/1960, and Mr. Andras Schima, born on 05/17/1954, are appointing to the Supervisory Board of Erste Group Bank effective from the end of the AGM until the end of the AGM due to resolve on the granting of discharge for the financial year 2022. And this takes me to Item seven on the agenda. Resolution on the remuneration policy setting out the principles for emoluments payable to management board members and supervisory board members. According to Section 78, in conjunction with Section 98A, Stock Operation eight, the Supervisory Board shall draw up the principles for remuneration of management board and Supervisory Board members, the so called remuneration policy, and put them to the vote of the AGM at least once every four years.
In accordance with Section 70 eight(one) Stock Operation Act, the vote shall be recommendatory in nature. The resolution is not contestable. The remuneration policy put to the vote of the AGM was prepared by the Remuneration Committee to be finalized for adoption and was discussed in-depth and unanimously adopted by the Supervisory Board. The following resolution should be passed: Adoption of the remuneration policy setting out the principles for emoluments payable to management board members and supervisory board members. This remuneration policy has been attached to the draft resolution as Annex one and was made available to the Estee Group Bank AG website referenced by the company register under ww.estegroup.com/hubforsamblunk, not later than 10/20/2020.
And this takes me to Item eight on the agenda, resolution on the amendment of Section 19 of the Artificer Association. This has been made accessible on our website since the 10/19/2020. Management and Supervisory Board therefore suggest that the AGM may take the following resolution. Section 19 of the Arctic Staff Association will be amended by inserting the options for electronic participation in the AGM by remote participation and remote vote, items nineteen ten to nineteen fifteen. These items follow the wording of the proposed resolution.
I take it that I do not have to read out the proposed amendments in Item 19 in Section 19 are not necessary because this is all contained in the proposed resolution as published on our website on 10/19/2020. This concludes the presentation of the reports and the proposed resolutions of the management and supervisory boards. Mr. Spike will take the floor again now. Bernd, you have the floor.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I apologize. I failed to mention something in my presentation. Peter Bosek is in quarantine, and he decided to leave our bank.
Peter Boeszek, who has been a great friend of ours, spent a quarter of a century in this bank. And I should like to mention a couple of things. Peter Bosek was one of the architects of this bank. He was hugely committed this bank. He was a great expert and he helped to make us what we are today.
I'm most grateful to him and I wish him all the best for his future job and he will always be a member of our family. Thank you very much. I fully endorse what you just said. So this ends the presentation of the reports and the proposed resolutions of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. And I now give the floor to each of the special proxies, them if they have received motions for resolutions from the shareholders who gave them their proxies?
If so, please read them out. If not, please confirm that you have not received any motions. First, I give the floor to Nicolas Ardensammer. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I represent shareholder Vaclav Czerny, and I've received one motion regarding Item two of the agenda. The motion reads that payment of the dividend be postponed until the final conclusion of the following proceedings. The chamber of Economy and another body in The Czech Republic are engaged in litigation before the official court, a case for damages in the amount of more than 15,000,000,000 with the Czech National Bank, proceedings regarding the revocation of a judgment pronounced and with the Austrian National Bank, a case concerning the revocation of a banking license from 2020. So the proposal is to suspend payment of the dividend until these cases have been resolved. I take it that Mr.
Adensammer has not received any additional motions. I give the floor to Michael Knapp. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I represent four fifty shareholders holding 31,266,000 shares.
20 out of the four forty shareholders are private investors. All others are institutional investors. I've also received a motion on Item two of the agenda from shareholder Radomir Yonak, 1949 is the ballot card number. I read out the motion counter motion concerning Agenda two. As shareholder of Verste Group Bank AG, I propose that the decision on payment of the dividend be postponed until the following proceedings are concluded.
I can only read out the German sentences. A court of Board of Arbitration, Chamber of the Economy and Chamber of Agriculture, 900 Czech crowns, number 67717. Court official court in Prague, 115,000,000,000, a case for damages. The speaker is mentioning the numbers of the cases. Cesko Naudne Banker, Czech National Bank, introduction of proceedings regarding revocation of a banking license.
2018, Austrian National Bank proceedings aimed at the revocation of a banking license. Case number proposal for a vote. I propose that a vote be taken on the counter proposal. And I ask for transmission of a certified copy of the minutes of the AGM, Signature, Radomir Jonag. I have not received any other motions.
Thank you, Mr. Knapp. I now hand over to Christoph Nauer. I can confirm that I have received no motions for resolutions. I now give the floor to Ewald Oberham.
Mr. Chairman, I too can confirm that I have received no motions. Notary breaks will include the motions in the minutes. Now here is the current attendance according to the list of attendance drawn up pursuant to Section 117 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act, 2158 shareholders are represented by the four special proxies who are entitled to cast 303,474,151 votes. General meeting, therefore, has the necessary quorum to take valid decisions on all agenda items.
The list of attendants is transmitted electronically to the four special proxies for data privacy reasons, the list of attendants will not be disclosed on the Internet. Now we are going to start the general debate, that is, will be read out and answered. I will read out the questions put by shareholders, and the members of the Supervisory Board will answer them. As soon as we've read out and answered almost all questions, we will tell you how long questions can still be handed in. I'm going to read out the questions starting with questions by shareholder Staller or Staller Investments at GmbH.
I've been asked to read out the questions fully in my capacity as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. I will try and meet the shareholders' expectations. It will be a pleasure for the Chairman of the Supervisory Board to read out the surprisingly short comments by Staller Investments GmbH clearly and was a firm voice. Staller Investments, GmbH, represented by its Managing Director, Rupert Henrich Staller. The company is represented by special proxy, proxy, Michael Knapp from IVA.
Ladies and gentlemen, in view of the fact that this is a virtual AGM, I will be very brief today in exercising my right to speak and put questions in accordance with the COVID-nineteen regulation, and I will focus on a few aspects and questions only. I regret that we're not able to be present at the AGM, which is always characterized by productive and also amusing discussions with the bodies of Erstek Group. I'm firmly convinced that it's I must not be remiss in thanking all employees of the bank for the enormous work they have done in 2019 and the efforts they will continue to make in the months to come. My cordial thanks are expressed to them. We, as shareholders, greatly appreciate their dedication and commitment to our AirStead Group.
The dedication of the management board to the company is expressed not in the engine power of their service cars, but in their shareholdings. Evangelist Lucas knew that because he said in the gospel, according to Lucas in chapter twelve thirty four, where your treasure is, there will be your heart. Therefore, my first question, how many shares do the members of the management board hold? I want to know that individually as of the record date of And an add on question, would each member of the management board please explain why, since the official beginning of the pandemic on the March 11, did not acquire a single share of Erste Group outside the blocking periods.
It appears that Bernard Spijl, Chairman of the Management Board, aware of this embarrassing situation and acquired 5,000 shares at the November. Ladies and gentlemen, today for the first time, we have to deal with the report of the supervisory board on the remuneration policy, which we have to take note of, remuneration policy for the coming four years. For the first time, we can take a vote on the remuneration report, and we are explicitly informed about the remuneration of the members of the management board and the supervisory board. I, as a member of the corporate governance task Force and the Austrian Financial Reporting and Auditing Committee and its working group on remuneration, take a great interest in this topic. While the remuneration policy of the Supervisory Board is presented in concrete figures, the remuneration policy for the management board members of Erste Group Bank AG is nothing but hot air.
A vote on such a trivial collection of commonplaces and tourism is simply too much for me. I will not be able to approve that. Therefore, my question to Chairman Fritz Ruhtler. The total remuneration of Andreas Teitel of €2,800,000 how many times is that the average salary of an employee of ERTE Group in 2019? And a question to the Chairman, which multiple does the Chairman regard as adequate in social and economic terms?
Question four continues. Our management board members also hold various supervisory board functions or similar functions in Austrian and foreign companies and subsidiaries of ERZ Group? Do our management board members receive separate remuneration for that? And to what extent? Can you give details on that?
And why isn't there any indication thereof in the corporate governance report or in the remuneration policy to be voted on? Question to Ingo Blair, which are the five biggest single risks in the corporate customer and commercial real estate segment defined by size of obligo size of exposure and average interest rate. Of course, we don't want to hear customers' name because this is not a question of naming and shaming. Like many other banks, ERZTEC Group finances certain real estate companies whose rental income is often far below the financial expense. Profits are made solely and year after year through the so called revaluation of real estate.
The monetary policy of the ECB is makes such revaluation gains possible. One could also say it is making some rich. A question to Alexandra Habla Drabek, do our risk models qualify quantify, I'm sorry, such real estate companies and all changes of factors in case the ECB one day decided to make some poorer? A question to Fritz Ruhspla. To what extent does the full supervisory board deal with the five biggest customers in the corporate customer commercial real estate segment and their risks?
2019 was a successful year, the last one of the first two hundred years of the bank. It was a jubilee which was celebrated. It was also the last year of Andreas Teichel, which was also celebrated. Some feel that the celebration was going to go was going a bit too far. Now it's high time to thank a member of our Supervisory Board, Wilhelm Rasinger.
Over the past fifteen years, he served on our Supervisory Board as a loyal and critical member. Thank you, Willy. Peter Bozek has served our company even longer for almost twenty five years. Peter, managers come and go. Usually, they come too early and they go too late.
It's the opposite with you. You're going going far too early. None of us would none of your companions would have thought that you would just leave us, but that you would be going east is something none of the Supervisory Board members ever thought. One or the other of them may now regret that and regret other things perhaps as well. As shareholders, I have often criticized.
I've also criticized you. Therefore, I wish you all the best for your new job as CEO of an exciting young bank in an exciting region of Europe. I wish you, from the bottom of my heart every success. I hope you will be happy and also earn a bit of money. I would like to underline that no one deserves the degree of appreciation which you deserve.
And I thank you for your virtual attention. And I, the Chairman, hope that I have met Mr. Steilers' expectations in terms of rhetoric, although I'm no match to him. We now move on to the round of questions. I have received questions from.
The questions were received in due time before the AGM. Therefore, I can also answer the questions. First question mister Knapp withdrew his first question, So I can move on to question two, consolidated governance report. The question goes to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the Chairman of the Audit Committee. Following an international governance trend, more and more supervisory boards in Austria separate the positions of chairman of the supervisory board and chairman of the audit committee.
RBI, for example, did so already, but not the Group Bank AG. Are you considering or discussing such a separation of position? The answer is the following. At Group Bank AG, the chairman of the supervisory board and the chairman of the audit committee is not always the same person. After the AGM twenty sixteen up till the AGM twenty nineteen, mister Homan was Chairman of the Audit Committee and I was Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
The decision on the appointment of the Chair of the Supervisory Board and its committee is taken on the basis of the professional qualifications and the suitability of the candidates. Another question, when will this separation be affected at Alstair Group Bank AG? I can answer the question as follows. After the elections to the supervisory board by the AGM, the supervisory board holds a constituent meeting to deal with the appointments to the committees and the assignment of functions. When exactly the there will again be different persons holding the chair of the supervisory board, and the audit committee cannot be answered right now.
And then mister mister Knapp asks, if not, any arguments against that? So the important thing is the professional suitability. There are no legal, regulatory or other reasons or any concern of incompatibility that would make a separation of the two functions expeditious or required as supervisor, as the the regulator has perceived a potential incompatibility between the two chairs, I have been asked to hand over the chairmanship of the audit committee. Next question. Remuneration of supervisory board members not subject to income tax in Austria is subject to so called withholding tax.
Do the Supervisory Board members concerned receive their remuneration gross or net? Do the supervisory board members pay the withholding tax themselves So that they receive a supervisor report remuneration reduced by the withholding tax? The answer is yes. Next question by mister Knapp. The shareholdings of HealtheGroup Bank shareholders can is not disclosed in the annual report.
Could you please close this gap in the future? A simple answer to that when you look at the annual report notes, this is chapter 38 on pages 189 and Page 190, you will find the shareholdings of supervisory board and management board members, but this is not part of the remuneration. Therefore, it doesn't need to be disclosed in the corporate governance report. Next question, on-site inspections by supervisory authorities in the annual report on Page nine. Reference is made to on-site inspections in the report by the supervisory board, which regulators performed on-site inspections in which areas, what were the findings addressed by the regulatory authorities and which essential findings of the regulatory authorities had to be implemented or are being implemented and which of our fields of activities are concerned.
Answer is the following. As of the 2019, there were open findings from 12 on-site inspections. Most of these inspections were inspections by the European Central Bank and conducted by the Austrian National Bank. Two non relevant inspections concerned IT risks that were not model relevant. The ECB and O and B inspections concerned credit risk models.
As of the 2019, there were 77 open findings. Another 63 findings came in later. Three of them are model relevant. One concerns IT security management. The final follow-up letter from the for the last mentioned inspection is not yet available.
Most of the findings concern credit risk models, validation of models, data quality, documentation, methodology and rating management as of the 2019. The findings were assigned to the following areas, 57 findings, credit risk models, now credit risk methods, six findings on group credit risk management, and the credit risk portfolio. The other findings, a small number of them were assigned to other areas. All findings were addressed on the basis of the risk mitigation plan and are being implemented. Many of the findings were closed in 2020, including findings from inspections performed in the previous year.
The audit committee is following the implementation of the findings regularly and receives reports in the course of its meetings. The next question concerns the savings bank segment. The acquisition of Oritska Bank in Skopje. The question seven, positive effects from the goodwill impairment concern participations, which in the notes are shown under scope of consolidation annual report 01/26 and 01/27. Now what is this all about?
Our 25% subsidiary, Steinmetteger Bank, Unschbacher Asset, from Societe Generale, which wants to exit from the bank participation in SEA, 56% of Oritska Banka in North Macedonia. The participation was topped up to a higher percentage and a passive difference was the result. So it was really a lucky buy for us. The answers will be given by mister Spait. The questions are as follows.
As of 12/30/2019, who owned the outstanding 8.43% of Ohritska Banker. Next question, have we talked up further in the meantime? Is a squeeze out procedure in North Macedonia provided for by law and will we make use of that? Is the extensive data analysis of Ohrinska Bank. Has this been concluded in the meantime?
And what are the results? And details on the market position of Ohritska Banker should also be indicated. Our public takeover bid, according to the takeover act was addressed to all shareholders and wasn't limited to the participation of Societe Generale. There was an agreement with Societe Generale that it would agree accept our bid for its participations. Other shareholders also accepted our bid, which gave us a participation of 91.57%.
So this was not due to a subsequent top up. The outstanding shares belong to the free float. We know them by name. And the next bigger package, 1.65, belongs to one private individual. Answer two, small shareholders currently hold only 6.84%.
Steiner Merkeshaus Barker in the 2020 and within the framework of a capital increase of Oritska Bank contributed €10,000,000 increasing the share to 93.16%. Answer three, none of the North Macedonian Acts provides for a squeeze out at a later point in time. This would only have been possible if we had received more than 95% in the takeover phase. And so for the data analysis will be concluded in November. According to IFRS, we have twelve months.
And first time consolidation happened in November 2019. There will be no major changes according to colleagues from Sterea. A slight adjustment of bad will will have to be made and possibly intangible assets in the form of the customer base will have to be booked, but we don't need to disclose that yet. Answer five. Now the essential figures I'm going to read out come from the group reporting package on 2019, Ohritska Banker.
Total assets, 2019, euros $686,000,000. Loans to customers, $468,000,000. Customer deposits, $522,000,000. Branches, 28, market position number four in terms of total assets. Schwarzschasse Bank Macedonia, an existing institution, total assets €399,000,000 loans to customers, $262,000,000 deposits from customers, $258,000,000 number of branches, 26,000,000 market position, number seven in terms of total assets.
And if we were to consolidate that on a pro form a basis, market share in loans 14.3% as of 2019, market share in deposits 10.7 2019 and a combined market position in terms of total assets, number four. Thank you very much. Next question from mister Knapp concerns Hungary. It's a question to mister Spalt. It refers to pages fifty and fifty one in the annual report in 2019 as the Bank Hungary took over the building society business of Aegon Bank Hungary.
57,000 contracts were thus acquired to Erste Bank Hungary, which increased our market share to 14%. How much did we pay for the Building Society portfolio of Aegon and how was the fair value of that portfolio determined? Are any other transactions of that kind being envisaged to increase our market share in Hungary, Mr. Spalt. Compensation consideration paid was 1,900,000,000.0 forint, that is EUR 5,200,000.0.
We acquired a deposit portfolio of the Building Society of Aegon. We didn't take over any other parts of the business. All Building Society contracts still benefit from government premiums. While for contracts concluded as of October 2018, no such premiums are granted on the basis of regular contributions from old contracts. The volume of the portfolio will increase up to 2023 and then it will continue to will gradually mature.
The basis for the valuation is the yield from assets, mainly government bonds, in which the building societies invest. The calculation of the fair value is based on the discounting of net interest income from the investment in government bonds. At peak times, 44,000,000,000 for rent, 120,000,000 over the remaining tenor of the deposit portfolio average yield 2.8%. The cross selling potential of this customer base was not taken into account in the valuation. Answer three, eGong was a great opportunity because we were able to acquire a portfolio in rundown mode at a very good price.
We were able to win 50,000 new customers. And in a concentrated market like Hungary, we also benefit from an advertising effect. We are open to any acquisition that supports our core business and that is profitable beyond the capital cost, always on the prerequisite that this is being supported by the shareholders of Erste Bank Hungary, including Corvinus and EBRD. The next question concerns Croatia, Page 53. In Croatia tourism with a share of 20% in GDP plays an important role.
Our 69.3% subsidiary, Asset Bank Croatia Rieker, has concluded their contract with the EBRD on a new credit line of EUR 150,000,000 for the financing of tourism in Croatia and Montenegro. Now tourism is that economic sector which suffers most from the corona pandemic and will continue to suffer. The question is how do you assess this tourism financing in Croatia and Montenegro after the experience of the 2020? Has the full credit line been drawn? And how is the credit risk divided between EBRD and Erste Bank Croatia, Ms.
Habila. Let me say that the summer twenty twenty in Croatia was better than originally expected, but for the full year 2020 overnight stays declined by about 50% compared to 2019. There is a steep North South gradient. Things are much better in the North. In Montenegro, logically speaking, the decline is even steeper.
But our credit portfolio is only €30,000,000 in the hotel sector. The Croatian hotel portfolio is about 500,000,000 In Croatia, there is a private law moratorium for the tourism industry running until summer twenty twenty one. Customers and it was accepted by the majority of them. We've been happy to see that a major part of our customers benefiting from this moratorium are still paying interest and we are confident that in 2016 to 2018 a great deal was invested in tourism in Croatia. Hotels and tourist infrastructure are in very good condition.
For 2021, we expect on account of the geographic location, Croatia is easy to reach by car. We expect that Croatia will benefit from a slowdown of the epidemic very quickly. As regards the 100,000,000 the credit line currently has been drawn up to €50,000,000 and various projects in Croatia were financed, none in Montenegro. And it's a pure refinancing line, so the risk is entirely worth at the bank in Croatia.
Thank you. Next question goes to Mr. Dovler and concerns real estate as a finance investment, 1,300,000.0. We have residual book value. The question is to the geographical distribution, the asset classes, apartments, houses, hotels, the vacancy rates.
And
what about the rental losses? Thank you. As for the geographical distribution, 80% go to Austria, about 7% to The Czech Republic and the remaining part is distributed over other countries. About half of this of the assets in apartments. Let me point out the nonprofit housing construction, and the remaining part goes to offices.
The vacancy rates are quite low, and there is no tangible impact on our assets from COVID nineteen. The or rentals, delays about €2,100,000. However, this is, of course, does not consider the impact of the second lockdown. And then we go to the litigations, pages two seventy four, five, and the half year financial report, page 73. Updates especially to the prospect liability claims and an update on Croatia.
The basic decision of the Supreme Court, what about that? And then also the foreign currency impact, What what could be derived from this in the meantime? Missus Havilah Dravek will answer this question. The mentioned procedures and business years, well, not much has happened in these litigations. All litigations are still at court of the first instance courts and agreement we also made agreements, but there were hardly any court sittings.
And then, of course, we have these bundled emissions, and the expert opinion of the lawyers was presented. And the expert summarizes as follows. No indications for an indebtedness of the issuer or the daughter can be read according to the equity capital law, and thus a future test of the realization is no longer necessary and therefore can be stopped. And the party discussions will only take place in the future. As to Croatia, the Supreme Court decided that with the conversion of the former Swiss franc loans, because of the legal measure in 2015, this relieved the situation.
And the banks read this as follows that the loan takers do not receive any further money. A lot was also changed into euro loans, and there are a lot of claims still pending. A lot of these approvals were declared not pertinent. I can't find this. Thank you.
The next question goes to Mr. The conditional dividend, Item two of the agenda, you proposed a dividend of €0.75 per share payable on the 02/15/2021 on condition that no legal obstacles will arise. The bank took a different course from bank. But it was pretty sure that this does not depend on a deadline. Things will take the usual course.
What induced you to decide on the wrong deadline, and what happens if the deadline goes by without the payout will be made, could there be a scrip dividend be issued, that is to say additional shares? And the shares to be issued could be taken from the stock of of one's own shares. Has this alternative been discussed? And what spoke for it and what spoke against it? He hoped this choice is actually a replacement.
Thank you, mister chairman, for this question. In the presentation, a lot of these items were addressed, but let me still mention the significance of the subject. The have taken the decision to propose this conditional dividend payout. This proposal gives the chairman the security that if all conditions are met, the dividend will be paid out. And we also have the option at the beginning of next year to have an extraordinary AGM if this is considered to be pertinent.
We do not exclude this. Moreover, the regulation that was issued because of COVID nineteen has not been prolonged yet. Erste Kopbank was, when the decision was taken, not convinced of this proposal to be able to carry out AGM with all those present and not a virtual AGM in January or February? So second question, what happens if all these conditions take effect? So if the conditions cannot be met formally or materially, the entire assets will be carried forward to new account.
Independent of this, the Astecorpanker can also call an extraordinary AGM and to make a new proposal for the appropriation of profits. But this AGM is also has a deadline with declaration of the financial statement 2020, question three. Script dividend was discussed in detail and was also legally tested. Script dividends are not explicitly mentioned in our Stock Corporation Act. There are no concrete legal framework conditions.
There's a certain legal uncertainty contained connected with this for the company and for the shareholder. But what we can, of course, pay out a dividend in kind, but this is not a version that we considered. Thank you. Next question refers to the remuneration policy. I will answer this.
When when working did you have external support when working out the remuneration policy? How much did this cost and what were the external provider consultants? Yes. We had professor Mitelbach Hermansaider. She supported us when drafting the principles for the remuneration of the members of the supervisory and management boards in connection with Para78a and 98a of the SOAR Corporation Act.
Mrs. Mittelbach Hermannator is an assistant professor at the Business University in Vienna. As to the contractual conditions, we cannot give you any information on this because we cannot this is all I can say is that this is it doesn't amount more than a two digit number what she received. So this brings us to the end of the first round. And now we move on to the next questions.
We have a number of questions on sustainability and environment. I have a number of questions by Mr. Baumguhler. But his questions are being answered at the moment. But he also wrote us a promo, which I would like to read out because the first questions put by other shareholders concerning sustainability come to bear here.
So mister Baumidler will have to wait a bit longer for answering for the answer to his questions. Okay. His prologue. My central concern, and I think this is also the central concern of many other shareholders, is the issue of sustainability and the contributions that companies can make here. The accountability can they can provide in the form of non financial reporting.
And this is of special significance, especially in the EU, financial institutions are the focus of attention. The keyword here is sustainable finance, in other words, action plan for the financing of sustainable growth. Capital flows should promote sustainable economic activity and these capital flows accordingly. That is the task of the financial sector. This list of questions includes six questions.
We'll come back to this in a minute. He goes on to say in a continuation to the writing of this questionnaire, I had the opportunity to talk to representatives representatives of of the the ERSE Group and many of my sometimes very technical issues could be clarified. In many respects, this gave me the impression of a high level of awareness of the relevant issues and of a commitment to addressing them appropriately, not least on the part of the Supervisory Board, which by law is required by the special focus of the responsibilities in this regard. This and the obviously positive development of the nonfinancial reporting in the last few years has led to many of my usual questions. I'm omitted, and I would like to thank the company representatives very much for the openness they have shown.
In comparison to a large part of the other companies in the ATX, it also seems to me that the handling of sustainability issues with the remuneration policy can be emphasized as well founded in many points. Admittedly, the financial sector in particular will remain at the center of a host of regulations by political actors in the coming years. And we can only wish all those involved in the sector every strength to continue to take appropriate account of this development and continue along the path that has been so positive so far. For your efforts in answering my following questions, I thank you very much, and I look forward to continuing our critical dialogue on sustainability. I wanted to read this out because the subsequent questions by other shareholders touch upon this issue and focus on sustainability.
I'm now starting with a question that goes to Mr. Spai the answer goes to Mr. Spai, Carl Adrian Hiss with the voting card 26. Our climate situation releases certain tilting points. For instance, thawing of the thermal frost region per one degree centigrade, we received 2.5 a 2.5 meter increase in the the sea level.
2,073 people would have a temperature of 29 degrees centigrade. Greenland and other Arctic ice sheens are melting. This all refers to meltings of this year, and I'm afraid of this development. And this is why I'm asking my questions that are the questions of an entire generation. We all have to live through this.
In 2018, the International Energy Agency is responsible for the rapid decrease. What can we do to mitigate all this, mister Spike? Thank you, mister chairman. The ASEA Group follows this urgency in to to mitigate this urgency, and we will revise our our ideas. Fossil fuels in the countries of Central Eastern Europe provide energy safety for all those concerned.
And this is why we have to use the transition time and look exactly into this transition time as concerns the exit from coal based electricity. I think it is very important to make this transition as easy as possible. It's not what can we do and what can we not do much rather. The question is to find a way towards a more sustainable and green Europe. Thank you.
Further questions by Mr. Hees. The ASTE Group says it takes more than just offering sustainability funds to reduce this development. We are trying to realize a 1.5 degree climate target. We are fund managers, and there have been others who made an investment ESG over €40,000,000 were invested in these ESG funds.
Green energy does not suffice. We have to change the consumer behavior. According to the fifth report of the IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the biggest growth of emissions has to be mitigated. We have to be more transparent. And this is why we are working on assessing carbon emissions.
We are actually in line with all the authorities having the same action. We want to create more transparency in our action. Our footprint will be linked with our offer in order to achieve the climate neutrality by 2015. Next question goes to Mr. Blayer.
Also comes from Mr. His.
Global
consumption of coal will have to decline by 78% by 02/2013. And the Secretary General of the United Nations says that we must not build any new coal fired power plants as the bank, however, does allow that and invest in coal. 2022, a new coal fired plant will be connected to the grid. By when can such investments be excluded? Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, since I've been on the management board of Erste Group Bank AG, I don't remember financing a coal project or having approved that. As CEO Spalt said, we are continuously revising the policy we have published, our responsible financing policy, and you may rest assured that our exposure to coal will go down. And the Melnik project, which I think is the one you referred to, will not be realized. Another question by Mr.
Hees to Mr. Pleyer. 41 out of 54 big European banks have better exclusion criteria than Alstebank. So 41 out of 54 European banks have better exclusion criteria for coal projects. Erste Group, Bank Austria and other banks are not among those.
When will you exclude coal projects or projects in which coal accounts for more than 20% of the power output. A list of all these companies can be found on the website, coreexit.org, and the criteria apply as of the November. Mr. Pleyer, thank you very much. We are aware of the urgency within the framework of the 1.5 degree centigrade target of the Paris Agreement, and we are about to revise our policies.
Have to take the interests of our stakeholders into account and make sure that this transition works well also for our customers. We are determined to support the economies in our core regions in the transition phase, and we can see that governments in the core countries intend to work towards the 2,030 targets. And otherwise, I refer to what Mr. Spait already said. Another question by Mr.
Hees to Mr. Spalt. Does the group recognize that electricity generation from natural gas is no alternative to coal electrification. It's just as bad for the environment. We would like to quote the special IEA report of 2020 on innovation in the field of clean energy.
The report says in the value chain for low carbon electricity, several technologies have reached a high degree of maturity, while others still have a long way to go. Therefore, the European Commission regards natural gas as a transition source of energy. It's clear that in the coming years, we'll find a balance between fast changes through innovation, the exit from the most harmful resources such as coal and the guarantee of modularity of the load of the grid. We will therefore support the development of energy procurement in the region. We will follow it very carefully and support projects which diminish the dependence on coal, including through the use of hydrogen technology.
Next question from shareholder, his to Mr. Blair. When will Erste Group no longer originate loans, issue bonds or issue shares if it's the company is concerned invest in oil and gas in the Arctic, is that an exclusion criteria? As we said already, Astecrop is highly sensitive to the problem of projects that are harmful for the environment. As far as I know, we are not involved in exploration projects in the Arctic.
We would not finance projects there. So I can't tell you more about that. Thank you. Next question from shareholder. He is to Mr.
Spalt. Can we expect publication of a 1.5 degree centigrade conforming carbon policy of Erstekoop by the 2020. Erstekoop is working on a new coal policy with regard to the maximum climate increase limit of 1.5 degrees centigrade, we want to consult relevant NGOs in the elaboration of the new policy to obtain external perspective. On the issue of climate protection and sustainability, if we want to go if we want to get better, we have to cooperate with NGOs. Together, we have to learn what can be implemented meaningfully.
We have committed to preparing the new policy in the coming months, and we can confirm that any new financing transaction of coal related assets or coal dependent enterprises will be examined carefully. Next question from shareholder Peter Mitel to Mr. Doerfle. It concerns the dividend. I expect that this bank, as others, will follow the recommendation not to pay out a dividend.
We congratulate you to the excellent result, and we thank all those who have contributed to it. Thank you very much. I think we have already outlined the steps we have taken. Next question, also from Mr. Peter Michel.
Addressed to me, I don't understand that CEO Triche is to get 31.11 percent of the management board remuneration at the AGM twenty eleven. He said he earns in a month as much as the federal president in a full year. Something must be left over from that amount and a reduction of the 2,810 sorry, 2,810,000.00 for 2019 should be reconsidered. I suppose you have added all remuneration components, but I must ask for your indulgence. We cannot retroactively reduce management board remuneration and we see no reason why we should do that.
Next question to mister Spait, again from shareholder Peter Michel. What we read in the annual report with regard to management board remuneration, I don't like that. The share price took a very negative development this year. Thank you. We always try to make the annual report as transparent as possible, but there are limits to what we can do.
We will, of course, welcome your input and take your recommendations into account as regards to the share price. Both the share price and the performance of our business were satisfactory until COVID-nineteen broke out. After that, however, all bank shares suffered greatly. And that is easy to understand when an economy is hit hard by policy measures taken by the government, if there is a lockdown, that of course has implications for people's confidence in the performance of a bank. And when regulators restrict dividend distribution, this is something that is not good for the share price.
So we're not happy with the share price, but it's directly related to the COVID crisis. It's not related to our business model. And as we saw yesterday, the share price reacted very positively when news came in about the possibility of a vaccine being available soon, and we're sure that our share price will recover. Thank you. Another question from shareholder paper, Michel put to me.
Will Mr. Tajkel leave the payment scheme? And what else is contained in other remuneration of 1,637,000. Mr. Patio originally was appointed as CEO of Erste Group Banker Gey until the 06/30/2020.
He stepped down from the management board on the 12/31/2019. But and his employment relationship ended according to the contract on the June 30. Other remuneration also contain contributions to the employee fund and to the pension funds. Next question, remunerations of the Supervisory Board increased by 28%. As in from 2018 to 2019, we don't get a dividend.
Why do only the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board get more and not the other members. I don't know which figures you are referring to, but Supervisory Board remuneration was not increased for 2018 and supervisory board remuneration was adjusted was last adjusted in the AGM for the business year 2017 and has remained the same since Simple ordinary supervisory board members get a fixed annual remuneration of €60,000 The deputy of the chairman, 150. The first deputy first and second deputy, 90,000 sorry. First deputy, 90,000. Second deputy, 80,000.
And so on. Changes in the total only are due to the change in the number of supervisory board member and the total sum of allowances for meetings is not the same because the number of meetings is not always the same. It must also be borne in mind that the annual report indicates the meeting allowance for the previous year, but the Supervisory Board remuneration for the current year. Next question. Shareholder Peter Mietrich addressed to me.
How many hours per year do the chairman and his deputy of the supervisory board work for Alstebank? I'm afraid I can't indicate the exact number of hours. I don't keep a log on those. I did so when I was a certified public accountant, but I can tell you that the time spent is extremely high. I spent three to four days a week at Erste Campus, and it hasn't changed during corona times, although I work more from home.
Next question from shareholder Peter Mieszczyn. The necessity of an I would like he would like to see an explanation of the need for an additional audit. Is does that come from the FMA? Is as the group bank AG not satisfied what it's audited was where the costs of the audit for 2018 and 2019, how much more will have to be paid once the additional auditor starts operating as a group as an international group in addition to its statutory auditor, Spakkas and Bruffensterband, has always had on a voluntary basis an additional internationally operating auditor because Spakas and Brifferbank can't audit abroad. A change of auditor occurred in 2017.
It has nothing to do with satisfaction with the auditor. It's required by law, but the law requires a certain rotation. And EU directive says that auditors have to change at least every ten years. Therefore, starting in 2017, PwC was recruited as an additional auditor. The costs of the auditor, the statutory and the voluntary auditor taken together amounted to €13,200,000 in 2019 and €12,100,000 in 2018.
In 2019, 5,900,000.0 and in 2018, euros 5,500,000.0 accounted for by PwC, Spakkas and Provenstwerp, 2019, 7,300,000.0. 2018, 6,600,000.0. Through the appointment of PwC as an additional auditor, Audit costs have not increased over the years when Ernst and Young were the additional auditor. Of course, it always depends on the scope of the audit, but the costs are in accordance with market practice. Next question from shareholder Peter Mieke.
Reduction in the number of Supervisory Board members is to be welcomed. What's the impact on remuneration? Could the supervisory board work with 10 members? Remuneration for an ordinary member, as I said, is 60,000 per year. And supervisory board remuneration is reduced by this amount if there is one member less and no meeting allowances are incurred.
Second part of the question, I take it that you mean 10 capital representatives because we also have six employee representatives. The supervisory board of group has numerous tasks relating to financial and capital market issues. Moreover, the supervisory board has to meet the requirement of diversity in terms of various criteria, men, women, older people, younger people, different professional backgrounds. And with the current number of 12 capital representatives, we can meet these requirements and it justifies the number of 12 Fewer capital representatives on the supervisory board would not be appropriate. Another question from shareholder Peter Miche.
What I said earlier also concerns the remuneration of the management board and the supervisory board. Would a reduction have an impact on remuneration? Well, we will pass on this suggestion. Next question to Mr. Dufle from shareholder Peter Michel.
Cost income ratio in 2015 was 57%, 201959%. What is the target for the costincome ratio in 2020, 2021 and 2022? Good indicators are to should be possible through the reduction in the number of branches by 5.3% and plus 2.5% customers. So between 2015 and 2019, the costincome ratio was well above 60%. The medium to long term target in terms of cost income ratio is still 50%.
According to our guidance at the Capital Markets Day, we indicated our target for 2024. COVID hasn't made it easier to reach this target, but it still remains in effect. For 2020 and 2021, we expect a negative impact results, although less so than in net profit because net profit is burdened by risk costs. Our earnings are depressed by interest rate reduction and the volatility in the markets, which had an impact on the trading and fair value result. The high cost discipline is a matter the management board is focused on also in our subsidiaries, and we expect to generate a robust operating result also for the full year 2020.
Next question from shareholder Peter Michel to Mr. Pleijer. Mr. Peter Michel says, I'm a customer of Sparcaste Ober Osterreich, and I was struck to notice that branches are only open from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon. Why do banks reduce their opening hours?
Can we expect fees to be reduced accordingly? Well, stepping in for mister Bossick, as regards you will have to ask Spankasse Ober Osterreich. We at Osterreich are open from nine to six in the afternoon at the major locations, and longer times for advisory can even be agreed upon upon request. And opening hours have nothing to do or not much to do with our personnel policy. There are many other factors of influence.
The next question goes to mister Serrand. Focuses on the impact of the corona epidemics in 2020. What about short term work schemes? Neither the Essakopanca nor their subsidiaries have used the short term work scheme. However, the measures by the government to secure work is welcomed by us, course.
But we are of the opinion that these measures are aimed at companies that rely on state subsidies and state support, but we are not part of this. Thank goodness. Next question, Peter Miche to Mr. Goeffler. Expectations for the result 2020.
As I've already said, the net result 2019 is about 68 to 80 basis points, and it will certainly be heavily burdened. As to concerning the operating results, this will go down slightly. Last week, we reported for had the report for the first three quarters. In the third quarter, it developed rather favorably. And now, of course, we'll have to wait for the impact of the lockdown on the fourth quarter.
But we assume that it will be a slight turndown in 2020 as opposed to 2019. Thank you. Next question to Mr. Stahl Spijl. Expectations as to the share price, the development of the share price is met, I take it.
Thank you. I think I've already talked about this. The share price depends essentially on two factors. First, it's the assessment of the macroeconomic conditions in our region, and second, our ability and the willingness of the regulators to enable dividend payments. I think that the present lockdown, which is all across Europe, will be used also with us, our government, to make the right preparation so that we actually can steer through the next phase.
And that we will also we also hope for a growth in the economy. And then, of course, we'll also be able to pay out dividends. And this takes me to the questions of Mr. Baumuller, The pronoun, I've already read out. Okay.
Question number one. Which turns to mister Spike? This address to mister Spike. I would like to ask you to explain what sustainability means to us the group from a financial perspective derived from the roots of the group of companies in the savings bank idea. So what is the difference here?
What distinguishes the Erste Group in this point from all the other market players? How is this reflected in the day to day business? And how is this reflected in the nonfinancial reporting presented? Thank you. A very important question indeed.
Since the foundation of the ERZT Group about two hundred years ago, responsibility towards society is an important part of our business activities. Those portions of the population who have no access to banks should be offered financial services. This was one of the main motives for setting up and founding our bank in 1819. As to this foundation idea, financial products and services should be provided to everyone in order to enhance prosperity has not changed. The social banking program step by step of Ester Group started in 2016 aims at including people with a low income.
Social banking was interested in our local banks of the group, and since its start, has supported 32,500 customers. Loans of €230,000,000 were granted, and educational programs were supported with 150,000 customers. The Swedish Park supported about 19,000 people. The 224,000 new foundations were made. The HRA, the social finance, this was the good b credit before, offers micro credits for farmers and small entrepreneurs in Romania.
In 2019, one twelve ninety four loans were granted with a total volume of €20,700,000. All loans taken together were 23,000,000. For nonprofit organization and social companies, as the the goal offers operational credits, transition credits, investment credits. As the financial life park, the largest financial education institution in Europe. Since its opening in October 2016, about 47,000 visitors could be counted within more than 2,500 guided tours.
Next question goes to Mr. Havela Drabek. Again, from Mr. Baumweller. I would like to ask you to explain with which concrete effects the business partners of ERST Group will be confronted from next year onwards as a result of the new regulations according to question two, for instance, which additional obligations for borrowers to provide evidence will accompany the first time application of the disclosure and taxonomy regulation, which developments and changes in behavior on the part of the business partners should be induced by this.
What roles do future sustainable finance models play? And finally, in supplement to this, to what extent is Erste Group, as a financial institution, aware of the sustainability role for the idea of sustainable finance? Well, I'm extremely happy that you have reacted so positively while you also said that we are taking this quite seriously, the sustainability issue. The fact that ESG has changed from me to the CRO does not mean that I'm just as committed to this issue. Naturally, what we want to express is how high the value of this topic is.
As to your concrete questions, there are two questions that I have to answer. I now relate to the concrete impact on our business partners. There is no doubt that this regulatory impact goes not only to us but also to our customers. It's our corporate customers to which this relates. These corporate customers, because of the taxonomy regulation, will have to improve their situation.
Companies, as of the 2021, this is not quite sure, must classify their activities, their income and their investments. They have to analyze whether the business activity meets the relevant criteria for environmental protection and whether other environmental goals are not impaired by this. This will be a major challenge for us, but also for investors and banks to be the right information source for climate and environmental risks of their credit portfolio. The the LST Group is fully aware of its obligations in connection with sustainable financing. Bergsat, Spike has already mentioned this.
And this doesn't only go for the environment, but also for social goals. And as has been said, let me mention again that in the past years, the group has made a major contribution to equal charges and finance formation and financial inclusion of persons with a very with low income. And we are supported by all important rating agencies in this and are also valued accordingly as you can see on our website. Next question by Mr. Baumuner, again goes to me and to Bernd Schwal, maybe.
In my opinion, sustainability and sustainable management is first and foremost a governance issue that raises questions about the established role models. I would therefore ask you to use the individual qualification profiles of the members of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board to show in which extent of sustainability related expertise is available. This goes especially for the question whether the overall available competencies are suitable for sustainable corporate management according to the current understanding that is based on ecological and social success criteria? What do I adequately demand and control them in the course of the supervisory board activities? Well, can answer this as follows.
As you know, the management board is a collegiate organ, a collegiate group which has to meet the required qualifications and criteria. One of these criteria is experience in the field of sustainable management. And when nominating members of the management board, the nomination committee looks exactly into the qualifications of a candidate whether he contributes to all the qualifications of the management board. Sustainability is of special significance and therefore it is with the CEO. Sustainability is among others a key performance indicator of the group CEO, and that's one of the criteria according to which a potential bonus will be paid out.
So this underlines the significance of this subject for Astecorp. The significance of the subject is, of course, different from the individual sectors.
Corporate
sector is particularly affected, especially when it comes to responsible finance, but also in the risk sector. The members of the management board have a lot of experience in all these fields and I think we are well equipped here. If Bergspike wants to supplement this, well, what comes to my mind in the context of ESG, environment, social and government, the Czechs Porcitende has been pioneer in the field of social banking. When I was a CEO there, we extended social banking and concentrated on on three fields to support nonprofit organizations, to support startup companies, to create sustainable jobs, and also people who are in financial strain to advise them and support them. So one aspect this is one aspect of the CSG.
And the second aspect, I look back on many years of risk management activities. This implies that, of course, we have to fight money laundering. We have to regulate conflicts of interest and have very clean and clear government structures. And environmental the environmental issue has been newly positioned in our bank. This section reports to sector reports to me directly.
And also, internally and externally, we wrote out a number of applications and they are highly qualified candidates for these jobs. We had over 150 applications within a very short period of time. And so we have stocked up the coworkers, and we know that this field is going to extend rather than shrink. Thank you. Next question, again by Mr.
Baumuller. I would like to ask the members of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board for a brief personal statement on the importance of the issue of sustainability in general and in particular for the management and supervision of the company, in addition which focal points in the personal sphere of activity are planned for the current term of office And how to achieve greater transparency in terms of ST Group's sustainability performance vis a vis its stakeholders? Well, as to this question, I would like to refer to the questions that have already been answered by the individual members of the management board. It's been quite clear that on the supervisory board and on the management board, we are taking this issue and this topic very seriously and try to do our best in this field. Next question.
The nonfinancial statement was subject to a voluntary external audit by DelRid. This question goes to Mr. Spalt. In accordance with Austrian practice, this was performed with limited audit assurance. The benchmark for the internal audit of non financial reporting by the supervisory bodies, however, a higher sufficient audit reliability.
For instance, see Schmitz Strenger in literature. In my opinion, this results in a reliable reliability gap regarding which I ask for information. As to what were the reasons for commissioning the external service provider, to what extent is the actual benefit derived from the audit exposed evaluated? Please name the latter specifically. What concrete specific qualifications and reference to examination service providers, that is, in the sense of individuals, who signed the submitted certificate half in terms of non financial reporting that is.
How does the statement below on Page 85 of the annual report according to which on the selected standard GRE disclosures were reviewed, the global reporting initiative were reviewed, fit in with the statement in the attestation according to which it is examined whether information required in Sections 243B and 267A of the Austrian Company Code in connection with the Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act. To what extent are they disclosed in the report? In other words, what systematic approach did the external audit service provider adopt in this respect? Three zero twofour GRE GRE of three zero five, four zero six, four zero five one, which additional internal audit procedures were specifically set by the supervisory board to close the reliability gap mentioned above. Thank you.
Well, the mandate was newly written out in 2018 together with and Deloitte was selected as auditors. Gerhard Mattebauer and Christoph Wolff were in charge of the team. Both have long years of experience with Verbund, Unica and Wienerberger. In Austria, this is a common practice that the audit opinion of the auditor is has a limited security, limited assurance, which means that in addition to the assessment, the specifications of paragraphs sections two forty three and two seventy six of the Austrian company code are contained. And the limited security, of course, limited liability is common practice here.
It means that this complies with the legal requirements. The supervisory board will then evaluate with sufficient audit security. But this wording actually complies with our mandate. We just want to have confirmed that the NFI report is in compliance with the legal requirements, and this is what we got. But, of course, we will evaluate the whole matter.
Let me also tell you that the Austrian audit audit board has looked into our report and has found no objections as to the audit of the nonfinancial report follows all statutory regulations in the Austrian company, GOAT. And this, of course, is all contained in the audit report as support by the own audit activity. But the supervisory report does not control the work of the external auditor. But we consider the result and the explanations. But let me stress again that this is just a voluntary audit.
In order to get enough to get this limited insure assurance. Next question comes from mister Heath. It goes to mister Player. This is a Volkswagen. Yeah.
As for the bank, we have an exposure of point 2% of loan book as to the coal industry, direct and indirect exposure. In the asset management, have no exposure at all. Thank you.
Thank you. We now move on to Mr. Staller's question. How many shares do the management board members hold as of today? In the annual report, in the notes, in Chapter 38 on Pages one hundred eighty nine and one hundred ninety, the shareholdings of the management board members are disclosed.
Any changes in the shareholdings can be accessed under the following link: www.arsteppunkt.comdeinvestorenacte/directorsdeelings. The next question also comes from Mr. Steiler, who asks each management board member to explain why since the official beginning of the pandemic on the March 11 didn't buy a single as the group share outside the regulatory blocking periods. This statement is not quite correct. As was already said, Mr.
Spuld acquired 5,000 shares in Q3. Moreover, the management board received its entire bonus for $20.19 in Phantom shares and half the bonus is normally paid out as Phantom shares, which means that the bonuses strongly depend on share performance. Moreover, the main focus since the outbreak of the pandemic was on protecting customers and employees and implementing numerous government decided support measures. The next question concerns the total remuneration for Andreas Teichler of 2,800,000 How many times the average salary of an employee in 2019 is that relative related to the average salary of an employee, the multiple is 31.94 fold. But the amount you mentioned also includes contributions to the pension fund.
Without contributions to the pension fund, the multiple is 24.8 times. Next question by Mr. Steiler. To me, which multiple does the Supervisory Board regard as adequate socially and economically speaking? The total remuneration of Andreas Taichi was critically reviewed in recent years by the Nomination Committee, and we can confirm that we regard the remuneration as in accordance with prevailing market practices.
Next question from Mr. Steiner. Do our management board members receive separate remuneration for other supervisory board functions? And why don't we find any indication of that in the corporate governance report or in the remuneration policy to be decided upon today. Our management board members do not receive separate remuneration not published in the annual report.
I hope we understand your question correctly. You wanted to know if a special remuneration is paid, we can confirm that all remuneration components are disclosed in the annual report And the disclosure is made in accordance with the Austrian Corporate Governance Code. Sorry, when management board members take on supervisory board functions in other companies, they do not receive separate remuneration. Then a question by Mr. Staller to Mr.
Bleier, which are the five biggest single risk in the corporate customers and commercial real estate segment defined on the basis of size of exposure mentioned. Mr. Pleyer, I will try and answer your question as well as I can. I refer to the exposure that is loans drawn and loan commitments made undrawn so far. A big Austrian telecommunication group represented in Eastern Europe is one of the five big ones, then a major automotive producer, a major metallurgical producer with production sites in our core markets and a big energy group.
As regards real estate, there is only one among the top five, that is a non profit residential developer. The top five account for 0.3% to 1.7% of our total portfolio sorry, that was the average interest rate, 0.3% to 1.7%. And according to our rating, these customers all have an investment grade rating. Next question to Ms. Havilah Drabeck.
A quantification of risk models for real estate companies and changes of factors in case the ECB were to decide one day to make certain investors a bit poorer. Thank you, Mr Chairman. A very important point. The cash flow view is an essential principle of our loan origination criteria and that also holds for real estate projects. The risk models for the financing on real estate projects are based on cash flow available for debt service.
That is rental income minus costs, which are related to credit installments to be redeemed. The second component is loan to value. Basically, that is the market value of the properties to be financed. The rules are extremely strict and detailed and each market value opinion is subjected to a plausibility check by our real estate appraisers. And we don't see any risk in connection with ECB decisions.
Next question to Ms. Habena from shareholder Alexander Kotzlik. Will impairments on loans be expected for 2020. For 2020, we expect risk costs of between sixty five and eighty basis points relative to customer loans. As regards the current development of infection numbers and the impact to be expected on the macroeconomic environment.
It's realistic to expect that we will end up at the upper range of this guidance. Another question from shareholder, Kotzlik, presence at Supervisory Board meetings 2019 and where Supervisory Board meetings in 2020 held as video conferences. I refer to Page 93 of the annual report. Presence was extremely high at Supervisory Board and committee meetings since the outbreak of the pandemic. Supervisory Board meetings have also been held as video conferences.
A few supervisory board members also participated physically in meetings at the Elsley campus. Those were hybrid meetings, partly physical, partly virtual. Next question. Also from Mr. Kotzlik, who asks about the costs of legal advice and auditing of the annual financial statements.
The total amount was EUR 137,000,000 for legal costs and consultancy costs. The audit of the annual financial statements consolidated and solo accounted for EUR 13,200,000.0. Next question from shareholder Kotzlik addressed to Mr. Spalt. What was the impact of the corona crisis in the individual countries.
International tourism was hit hardest, especially in Croatia, Austria and to a certain extent in The Czech Republic because there tourism accounts for a high share of GDP. Airlines were also hit hard, airlines and their subcontractors as well as the automobile in automotive industry because production was stopped during the first phase of the lockdown. The economic performance of the countries of the CEE region, including Austria, depends very much on the share in and access to the global value chain in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Temporarily, production was slowed down, which led to a decline or a downturn for a period of six months before a slight recovery. Certainly, the originally expected drop in GDP was not as significant as anticipated and the rebound came faster than expected.
It is now 1.36. We have already read out and answered numerous questions. We only have a few questions left and I therefore decide that last questions can be submitted until 02:00 sharp at the address mentioned earlier. After that point in time, questions can no longer be accepted. The question received by 02:00 will, of course, be answered.
And motions from shareholders or instructions from shareholders to the special proxies can also be sent in by email until 02:00. Instructions and motions received after that point in time will not be taken into consideration. So I continue. Question by shareholder Kotzlik addressed to me. What were the total costs of the Supervisory Board in 2019 broken down by remuneration and travel costs and other costs.
Total costs for the supervisory were in 2019. So those are costs paid out in 2019 for 2018, amounting to 1,271,244 Euro. Pure remuneration amounted to €840,000. The rest was accounted for by meeting allowances. Additional costs for the Supervisory Board paid in 2019 amounted to €178,135 of which €105,572 were travel costs.
Next question by Mr. Kotzlik to Mr. Doerfle. What's the business plan for the coming three years? Thank you.
For the time being, we have no detailed financial outlook for the years 2021 to 2023. We said already that on account of the COVID pandemic, the environment is characterized by a high degree of by a high lack of visibility. Making forecasts is more difficult than ever. On the 02/26/2021, we will be giving a guidance to the capital market. That's the date of publication of the results for 2020.
In the analyst call for the third quarter, we communicated our assessments that risk costs in 2021 on the basis of our best estimate will be lower than the risk costs in 2020 should be lower than the risk costs in 2020. As our business as a whole is concerned, we expect an economic recovery in 2021 and our return to a stable growth path. So we will be seeing additional loan growth across our region. And as regards net fee and commission income, we hope to grow there as well. So overall, we do reckon both a rising operating income based, of course, on cost discipline.
The medium term target of achieving a double digit return on tangible equity remains in place. Next question from Mr. Kotzlijk to Mr. Speith. Do you think that the impact of the corona crisis will also be felt in coming years?
Now I'd like to come back to what I said earlier. Basically, the impact depends on how the health crisis can be mastered and to what extent the economies in our markets recover. We take it on the basis of economic forecasts that 2021 will be the first year in which slight growth will be possible and that after that we will return to a sound growth pass. Next question by Mr. Kotzlik concerning D and O insurance, who is the insurer, some insured premium and persons covered.
The insurer is AIG Europe SA with various reinsurers. Some insured is CHF 200,000,000. In addition, for the Supervisory Board of the holding, the sum insured is €50,000,000 on top of that. Premium for 2020, euros 2,382,165. That is the net premium plus insurance tax for the entire Erste Group, which is distributed among the subsidiaries of Erste Group annually on the basis of an agreed key or breakdown.
Persons covered, management board, supervisory board and all executives. The insurance covers Erste Group Bank, AG and all subsidiaries in which EGB directly or indirectly holds more than 50%. Next question, which what kind of government assistance did Aster or will Alster receive Mr. Player, Mr. Kotzlik.
We did not get any help for ourselves. We did not claim any help for ourselves in the form of short time work. But we did benefit from government guarantee programs as of the September. We were at €1,450,000,000 in COVID guaranteed drawn loans. Guarantees were given by the Austrian Kontolbank and by Cossack.
Next question by shareholder Kotzlik. It's addressed to the auditors, but I've received a response from the auditor. The question was how did the auditor audit account balances? I think the background for the question is the Mathersburg case. I got feedback from Mr.
Margetich and Ms. Reppmann. The auditors received sufficient proof of completeness and existence of all loans to loans and advances to banks in as shown in the consolidated financial statements. And for other balances, a confirmation was received in the form of counterparty confirmation and swift confirmation. So that is sufficient evidence to show that our loans exist.
Next question to Ms. Havala Trapek. Is Erste Bank involved in major litigation, legal clauses had to be withdrawn from or amended in customer contracts. As the group bank and some of our subsidiaries have been sued in a number of cases, which are still pending cases initiated by consumer protection organizations. After thorough analysis, this has been reflected in the balance sheet.
And for litigation in accordance with the rules of IRS 37, details are given in the notes under Note 51, contingent liabilities and litigation. You will find there information on the validity of individual clauses, particularly clauses in the general terms and conditions. The litigation with the consumer protection organization is still pending, and it's mainly about clauses concerning liabilities, termination rules and safe boxes for savings books. Next question to Ms. Daspeit from Mr.
Kurzlich. Is administrative staff working in open plan offices or are they working from home? Most of our employees who have a workplace at the campus or on Geiselberg are working from home. Of 4,500 employees, only 500 are physically present in a normal year before corona. One employee, depending on the size of the home base, had 12 to 18 square meters available since the return to the campus at the end of the lockdown.
Employees now have 24 to 36 square meters of space available because we're working in two separate teams. Next question, also to Mr. Spijn from Mr. Kotzlik. Were there any corona cases in Erste Bank?
And what protect or which protective measures were taken. In the first wave in the spring, we had hardly any cases, only in a few branches. The number went up in the second half of the year. During the past four months, we had one hundred and forty cases. We have a testing system, which we organized ourselves and a 24 hotline is available for our employees and it works well.
We also organize the contact tracing and we are very proud that so far we have succeeded in avoiding contagion in our building, the campus. We do the testing very fast and employees are sent home to work from home or to be in quarantine there immediately. This also holds for our branches. The health of our employees and our customers is an absolute priority. From the beginning of the pandemic, our employees have been supplied with face masks, disinfectants, and plexiglass shields.
Since the end of the first shutdown, we've been working in two separate teams that alternate at weekly intervals. Meetings and business travel has been reduced to an absolute minimum and training programs are provided online. Next question to me. Mr. Kotzlik wants to know how many service cars are available for the management board costs per management board member, types of cars, average cost per kilometer, any chauffeurs working for Erste Bank.
Each management board member has one service car. There is a we have a pool of drivers, and a driver can be requested from that pool. These drivers in 2020 were used mainly for the transport of corona tests and not for the transport of management board members. On average, per management board members, the distance covered is 15,000 kilometers. The costs are approximately €1 per kilometer.
The cars are BMW five and Audi a six models. A question from shareholder Berthold Berger. How many shareholders are logged in via the Internet today broken down by Austria and other countries? So logged in today at 12:00 in the A1 stream, three zero nine from Germany, 69 were low in the German stream, 309. In the English stream, 69 were logged in.
That is in the provide for the provider a one, three hundred and seventy eight for the second stream, 116 for the German transmission and 14 for the English transmission. The provider was BVideo. That is five zero eight participants at 12:00 in this virtual AGM. Next question by Mr. Berger.
What is the book value per share? Question to Mr. Doffler. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The book value per share as of thirty first December twenty nineteen was €32.9 And as of the June 30, the book value was €33.2. September, €33.6, but that is an unaudited figure. Next question by Bertoltberger. What did last year's AGM cost and how many people were present? What will the virtual AGM cost?
What are the costs of the individual special proxies and what proxies and how much do the two Internet lines cost? Cost in 2019, euros 426,753. Shareholders registered at the last AGM, 3,120 shareholders represented by six forty five natural persons. Special proxies for this AGM cost €3,500 each depending on the duration of the AGM and the number of proxies over time is paid on the basis of the usual hourly rates, cost of Internet lines €6,674. Next question by Bertolt Berger.
What's the circulation of the annual report in German and English? How much did it cost? Question to mister Spalt. The German version, 2,700 copies. English version, 1,040 copies.
Printing costs €33,627.80. Next question to mister Doerfle from mister Kotzlik. Was there a management letter from the auditor for 2019? Any findings, objections, suggestions for improvements? Have any of those already been implemented?
This question was also put by It's an identical question, so I'd like to answer the two questions at the same time. Yes, the auditor did send a management letter to the supervisory board, which contains recommendation regarding existing processes and documentation methods in risk management, accounting and IT, but there were no major findings. All recommendations are being worked on. Many have already been implemented.
The audit committee regularly receives information on work on these findings. Next question to our CEO, O'Mahoney. How much do you spend on security software? How often have you been hacked? Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
We had arranged this in advance. If I can take the second question part of the question first. We differentiate between phishing attacks on our clients and then attempted attacks on our systems and infrastructure here in the Erste Group. In terms of phishing attacks, there are constant support and update in terms of these attacks on our clients. We believe that we have quite successfully supported the clients and managed to deal with these.
In terms of the security of our infrastructure and our systems, this is constantly being invested in and updated to the most modern standards that we require and demand here in the ERZT Group. And we believe that we have the most up to date security systems in place to support and protect the systems that we have. In terms of the spend overall here for the group, in terms of the infrastructure, in terms of the software, in terms of the personnel and in terms of the training, it would be approximately 5% of the overall IT budget.
A question to Mr. Spijl from Mr. Berger. How much do you spend on online advertising and on social media? Well, I hope you won't mind if I can't disclose the accurate figures, but online advertising, and this includes social media, is of course going up.
And that corresponds to changes in the usage of media by our customers. Currently, it's about 30% to 35% of the total advertising budget. Next question by Mr. Berger. How much do you spend on insurance in addition on D and O insurance?
And who are the insurers? I think the question was already answered. Of course we have D and O insurance, we have survivors insurance, we have invalidity insurance and we pay contributions to pension funds which go to VBV Metabate for Solge Kasse. But the amounts are published in the corporate governance report. A question to Mrs.
Harbella Drabek. In fact, two questions from Mr. Berger. First, did you sell NPL loans? To whom and to what extent?
And is that something you do to keep the NPL ratio low? In 2019 and in 2020, there were no major sales of NPL portfolios. In 2019, we sold NPLs in the amount of EUR 235,800,000.0. As of today in 2020, euros 59,000,000. Essentially, those are regular sales of smaller portfolios in non collateralized consumer loan business.
These NPL sales play a minor role in the current rundown of our NPL portfolios. As you have seen, despite the difficult environment, the NPL portfolio has been further reduced. But we don't want to make major sales of NPLs. Thank you. It's going to be 02:00 in ten seconds And I may remind you that as of 02:00, we are not answering any more questions.
We're not admitting any more questions. We have a question to Mr. Spait from Mr. Berger. What do you spend on sports sponsoring ice hockey and tennis?
And Mr. Berger, thanks for the sponsoring of tennis. And what you intend to do about sports sponsoring in times of corona. Thank you. In 2019, as the group spent €5,000,000 on sports sponsoring.
This included ice hockey, tennis and running. The ice hockey commitment is expiring after seventeen years. The contract was and we are also sponsoring the Ersterbank Marathon. To reach or access young target groups, we also sponsor e sports. Due to corona, numerous events had to be canceled.
The Erste Bank Open took place under strict security and safety conditions. We hope that 2021, there will be more sports events. We are in continuous contact with all organizers. And of course, we depend on the framework conditions. I have now a question from shareholder Staller to Ms.
Havela. Could you please explain the shareholder and the basis on which they have been submitted? Are we talking about the squeeze out proceedings of Cesca in Prague? What's the status of the proceedings? First of all, a general comment.
The motions do sound rather warlike, and that may have been intended by the by those who introduced the motions. But I can reassure you, we're not confronted with any proceedings about the withdrawal of a license, neither in The Czech Republic nor in Austria as regards litigation mentioned. Let me repeat what I said earlier. As the group and some of its subsidiaries in their respective jurisdictions have been sued in a number of cases. In all these cases, the risks are being analyzed thoroughly and reflected in the balance sheet in according both accounting rules and compliance with these rules is monitored by the auditors from time to time, and this cannot be prevented.
Our subsidiaries are confronted with frivolous claims without any factual or legal foundation in the interest of the bank concerned and in the interest of our shareholders. We defend ourselves, in most cases, successfully against such claims. We cannot prevent that representatives of complainants buy shares of Erste Group and then introduce motions as shareholders. This is not in the interest of our bank. We are aware of the arbitration proceedings against Cesca.
It was initiated by a former corporate customers in connection with the customers' financing of Cesca in the 1990s. In the amount of EUR 34.5 plus interest, Cesca says the claim is unfounded and nonexistent. And ten years ago, a decision was already taken in favor of Cesca, so there is no valid claim. The second, proceedings mentioned did not involve Cesca as a party. As far as we know, the Prague court rejected the case because it was inconclusive.
Cesca was not invited to make a statement on that. Of course, the interest of our bank and in the interest of our shareholders, we will keep defending ourselves against unfounded claims. As to your additional question, no, this is not about the squeeze out procedure at Chesca, but let me say something about that. Now, in 2019 and 2020, nothing new has occurred. There is there are proceedings of minority shareholders connected with it, but against Cesca, the Prague court decided that the AGM of twenty eighteen, which decided on the squeeze out, was correct.
But a decision is still outstanding. Thank you.
And there is a question by Mr. Moringer on the management data that has already been answered. And now we move on to Mr. Baumuller. Can it be that my question too got lost on the disclosure regulation and the taxonomy disclosure and project realization.
So could you please explain to me again where your regulatory what your opinion on the regulatory measures is in the course of implementation, which further steps you will take in order to prepare and ensure the timely preparation. That is capital adequacy. That is to say chapter four forty nine a of the CRR two, the disclosure regulation and the taxonomy regulation. Please also explain the relevance on the business activities of the group, and they would also like to tell me which environmental goals according to article nine, the taxonomy and regulations were special relevance relevance. You have not overheard this, but this we do apologize that this question somehow got lost.
The regulations come into force at different points in time, some in 2021, as I said, in answering another question of yours, or in 2022 or 2023. We, as ERSTE Group, meet all disclosure obligations, and we work in implementing all regulations that will come into force in the not too distant future. First is the sustainability disclosure regulation, which will come into force in March 2021. We also work on our other projects, and we will meet all our obligations for disclosure in due course. We also disclosed our obligations in connection with the CR2 pillar three disclosure obligations.
Thank you. Next question goes to Mr. Doerfleur. It's actually a piece of advice. Don't use the cost to income ratio as a key indicator for the million cost and 4,000,000 cost income.
It's the same as 5,000,000 cost and 1,000,000,000. Nevertheless, the second case is much more important than the first one. So mister Duffre would like to mention this. The comment is not wrong. The costincome ratio is a recognized indicator that is used by capital market observers, but as an only indicator, it would not be enough.
However, if you compare similar business models, the costincome ratio is a very good parameter for establishing the efficiency of the operative result. I would also like to inform you that when you take an overall view of the profitability of a bank, not one single indicator will suffice. And this is why the costincome ratio is one important indicator, indicator, one of our goals, but certainly not the only one. I already pointed out that return on tangible equity, just to give you another example, is another important indicator. Thank you.
Thank you. Mister Olinger, the number of Supervisory Board members should be reduced. There is no more space for a representative of the McCarthy shareholders like mister like doctor Rasinger. Why is mister Rasinger not replaced, for instance, by a lady? I would like to reconsider this decision.
I don't know what you're aiming at. We want to reduce the number of Supervisory Board members to 12 and whether we also have a representative for the minority shareholders will remain to be seen. Next question by Mr. Rohinger. Usually, how long does one supervisee board meeting last?
Much shorter than the AGM in any case. It also depends, of course, depends on the agenda, but a normal meeting lasts for about three to five hours. As I said, it depends on the agenda and on the topics discussed. Next question by Mr. Rollinger.
Goes to Mr. Rollinger. Mrs. Rollinger, sorry. This bank, that is the Slovensky Pochettelne, data mining and data usage is mentioned as a central issue.
Are there any problems with data protection there? Are external data sources used or data passed on selectively, missus Abbele? I can assure you that data processing in all companies of LST Group is particularly tested All employees in all sectors are trained accordingly and each company has a special data protection officer which advises the individual protections and also checks that. The ethical and SLSP, of course, want to offer more and more support to everyone. And of course, the legal requirements are always met.
Moreover, we also obliged ourselves to protect the customer data according to ethical aspects. And we use external data sources only if we are permitted to do so and if this can be transparently displayed to the customer. We do not transfer data unless our customer gives us his explicit consent. Next question to Mr. Spijl from Mr.
Berger. What do you have to pay for the banking security? Deposit insurance. Insurance. Probably, insurance.
And we understand your question in such a way, the how high the financial burden of asset group is because of the individual deposit insurances. I would also like to mention that ERste, together with Esparghalsen, has its own system and is not affected by the Commerzialbanken in Hovancey. Thank you. Again, from Mr. Morring and to Mr.
Goebbler. Loans to banks amounting to CHF 23,000,000,000 seem to be quite high. They rose by CHF 4,800,000,000.0 since 2015. Why? Especially, this has risen in check here, page 26 of the annual report.
Do we offer such favorable conditions there? Well, let me just mention this specifically. And I'd also like to refer to the liquidity situation in the market because this is very important for the deposits. What we're trying to do is to use your liquidity as well as we can. And during the epidemic, we had higher interest rates in Czechia because there was a higher liquidity there, and other business was used.
Transactions were used in order to to make deposits with a Czech national bank. So this was the specific reference to the Czech situation, the Czechoslovakitena is also has a lot of deposits, which takes me to my next remark, especially in a very difficult environment, as the Globe has a lot of new deposits due to the fact that the confidence of our customers is quite high. So we have an above average increase in deposits, third remark. This refers to the overall environment of a promoted liquidity, particularly enhanced by the European Central Bank. And in 2020, driven by the crisis situation, this ensures that the liquidity situation remains good in the Euro Region and that the banks get a lot of new deposits.
A major part of our liabilities is with the central bank. Next question by mister Roringa. What is the volume of Czech bonds held by the Erste Bank? I'll be very brief on this. In euro, the level is €9,000,000,000 at group level.
Euros 8,500,000,000.0 are used by Chesca and EUR 500,000,000.0 by the holding. Next question. In the sector group corporate center, report is made on the write down of impairments with the Sovenka Schoiesche Penda of $465,000,000. Well, in the fourth quarter, the banking tax was increased. It was doubled, to be quite concrete, and was also extended for an indefinite period of time, that is to say, the impairment test of our bank, has led to a depreciation of the goodwill of €165,000,000 and this explains the depreciation.
In the meantime, the banking tax was abolished mid twenty twenty, and this, of course, shows that testosterone and sports tenderer will fare better in the future, but it will not be revalued because this is not provided for by law. Next question to Mr. Bleier. What is the credit volume extended in connection with the corona reasons? Which applications were denied and for what reason?
Were the Basel III regulations an essential criteria? Or was there not enough positive view of the future? Well, we had three Moratorial. 3,000,000. Four moratorium.
As I've already mentioned, 1,500,000,000.0 were extended by the end of this year, and you will find further details in the q '3 report on page 58. The Yeah. All these denials, the credits were denied or bonds were denied because the loan criteria were not met by the customers. And as concerns Basel III, if we get the guarantees, we test, of course, all applications and then decide. We scrutinize all applications and then decide.
Thank you. Another question from Mr. Warringer. In August and September 2020, real estate loans increased significantly. Do you know what the reasons are?
Is there the risk of a bubble? Yes, we did grow in our real estate business, and the reasons are good ones. They don't deprive me of my sleep at night. On the one hand, there is strong demand for financing for housing driven by the fact that in some of our countries, in The Czech Republic, interest rate for residential finance is lower than ever before. And there are incentives provided also by the public sector for people to acquire residential real estate.
And experience from the corona crisis has also contributed to customers attributing more value to real estate. They've been at home so much, So how they live and where they live is more important to them. So we do see healthy growth, particularly non profit residential developers are doing very well. No negative traces to be found of the crisis, but the same goes for the logistics sector and for office real estate in accordance with our loan policy. We finance Class A assets in prime locations.
Next question by shareholder Wohringer addressed to myself. The departure of Peter Bossek occurred on a very short term basis. Are there any provisions in the contract regarding a termination? In addition to the bonus payments for acquired already, will there be additional claims for payments? And why did the Supervisory Board agree to such a short term termination?
Now termination clauses are contained in the Management Board contracts. You can read them up. Mr. Bosek's contract was dissolved by a neutral agreement as of the 2020. In addition to the bonus payments due, no severance pay will be made and Mr.
Bosek allowed us to disclose this information as of today. As regards the competition clause, it relates to countries in which as the group is represented, which is not the case in any of the Baltic countries. Mr. Bozek will be moving to the Baltics, so the competition clause does not apply. And there were no objections to a speedy termination of the contract.
Next question to myself from shareholder Peter Michel. It concerns the additional auditor. Well, if this is a requirement, no question about that. And if you have Deloitte as an auditor, a second auditor cannot harm. I remember the terrible Deloitte opinion on the squeeze out of Banc Austria in 02/2007.
So we take it that you are referring to PWC as the additional auditor for the annual financial statements 2019 and 2020. We have a statutory auditor, Spakkas and Profumstwerpen. Deloitte audits the nonfinancial report and neither the solo nor the consolidated financial statements of Erste Bank. Next question comes from Mr. Berger and it's addressed to Mr.
Bleier. As of which deposit amount does an Astebunk customer pay negative interest? Well, mister Berger, The limit is at €3,000,000 The exact threshold depends on the overall situation in terms of earnings with the customer. So this is a question that only concerns the euro and not the other currencies. Next question also from Mr.
Berger. How much have you paid in terms of negative interest for money deposited with the ECB? And the answer is rather sobering and links up to the question about negative interest put before. In fact, in 2020, we paid approximately EUR 25,000,000 in negative interest on the ECB deposit facility. Thank you.
Next question from Mr. Petermiche to Mr. Roedler and it concerns the Supervisory Board data from the annual reports 2018 and 2019. The remuneration there indicated there has increased from 840,000 to 1,075,000. That is an increase by 28%, could the supervisory board do with fewer members?
And how much do the chairman and deputy chairman earn per hour? I think you're mixing up remuneration and meeting allowance. And of course with the number of Supervisory Board members, remuneration also increased. And as we said earlier, the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are not paid on an hourly basis nor the management board members. The figure of 1,075,000 you mentioned include meeting allowances.
The 840,000 do not include meeting allowances. So in fact, the remuneration even declined from 1,100,000 to 1,075,000. Next question from Mr. Steiler addressed to me. His question three referred to the average salary of an employee of Elste Group as a whole, not of the holding only.
And Mr. Stander asks for a clear and correct answer. Now if we include all employees of Elste Group, Mr. Teitrich's remuneration is 40 times that of the salary of an average employee. Next question to Mr.
Doerfle from Mr. Petermichel. Most probably only half the dividend will be paid out, 0.75 instead of €1.5. Do we stand a chance of receiving the full dividend for financial year 2019? Your assumption is correct.
It will be €0.75 per share. Next question from Mr. Steiler. A follow-up question to question number seven, which referred exclusively to the five biggest customers, the five biggest single risk in commercial real estate. The answer given was either based on a misunderstanding or an attempt to hide something.
Could we have a clear and correct answer? Mister Staller, of course, we didn't want to hide anything. The results refer to corporate customers, including commercial real estate. Now the answer exclusively about commercial real estate. If we look at the five biggest ones, the individual or the single exposures, a European commercial real estate group headquartered in Austria, The biggest real estate group focused on logistics, active primarily in The Czech Republic, that is a company that builds logistics real estate.
Then a group of regional real estate developer and investor operating all over Eastern Europe, a developer of retail real estate in Southeastern Europe and a big shopping center in Austria. Those are the five biggest commercial real estate financing transactions. They account for less than 1% together of the entire portfolio, and they account for 4.5% of our real estate industry exposure. Generally speaking, as Ms. Habila Drabeck said, we finance on a cash flow basis.
We don't do group financing. You will find hardly any financing of holding companies, but focused on the projects because as the risk ends at the curbstone. Next question to Mr. Droffler from How much negative interest was paid on deposits in 02/2019? Deposits with the ECB were reduced.
What did you do with the money thus freed up? In 2019, we paid negative interest in the amount of €50,000,000. Earlier, I mentioned EUR 25,000,000 for 2020. You may wonder why this has gone down rather than up, although interest rates have not gone up. This has to be seen against the background of the fact that the ECB also took supportive measures for the banks and the costs for deposits of certain portions of the deposits declined.
So €50,000,000 negative interest in twenty nineteen euros 25,000,000 negative interest year to date in 2020. And all liquidity which we can't which we need not deposit with EECB but can deposit with other central banks are not exposed to negative interest. A question from mister Berger to mister Omani. How much do you spend on SAP software? A follow-up question from Mr.
Staile regarding his question nine, which apparently has not been answered yet. The question is, to what extent does the entire Supervisory Board deal with the five bigot customers in the corporate customers, commercial real estate business and their risk, the question can be answered quite easily. The Risk Committee of the Supervisory Board discusses these cases extensively and the Risk Committee reports to the full Supervisory Board on such cases regularly. Next question also from Mr. Steiler, a follow-up question to his question four.
A question did not concern a certain Mr. Teiche because that is a thing of the past, but rather about the ratio between the average salary of the group to the salary or the remuneration of the CEO and what which multiple do you consider appropriate. Now we use external market values as a basis for our decisions. And the question of the ratio you have mentioned is of secondary importance for us. Our management board remuneration is compared with remuneration earned by our peers and we're at the lower end of the range.
And it's not really informative or relevant to say anything about the average of the group as a whole. A question from Mr. Berger to Mr. How many customers does Internet banking George have in Austria and The Czech Republic? How many customers have you won?
How many did you lose? Will be rolled out to other countries? And how much is that going to cost? George is online in the following countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Croatia, where it was rolled out in 2020 in Hungary. George will go live next year.
The costs per country cannot be generalized because the expense depends on country specific factors. Currently, as the group has 5,900,000 Georgian customers, Austria 1,200,000 Czech Republic 2,300,000 Slovakia 1,100,000 and Romania 1,200,000 customers in 2019. 274,000 active George customers were won across the group. I have one last question from shareholder Peter Michel addressed to Mr. Doerfle.
Mr. Petermitte says he is happy to hear that the operating result for 2020 will be only slightly below that of 2019. And we would like to know if he can look forward to receiving a dividend for 2020. Well, for 2020, we are planning to pay out a dividend or to propose a dividend, but the final decision can only be taken on the basis of the year end figures and details will be disclosed on the occasion of the communication of the results for 2020 on the 02/26/2021. I have there's one no, there is no more question coming
up. Of course, this has led to the fact that not all was in line with the provisions. So shareholders could have made much better contributions. In innovative technologies that were used now could also have been used at a much earlier date for better use. And now to Mr.
Knapp. Thank you. Have not received any further motions proposed resolutions. And now, mister Nauer, I confirm that no further proposed resolutions have been received. Mr.
Oberhamed? Thank you. One motion by Mr. Roingen, card eight thirty four on item three was made. The resolution on granting discharge should be of the members of the management board should be carried out as individual votes, especially with the boss'ik.
So I've given the floor to all the proxy holders. Mr. Briggs will take all this down and certify It's now fourteen forty one hours. So meeting has lasted for quite some time. And I think those who have followed us via the live stream, but also those present here, agree to a fifteen minute break now, and we'll start again at fourteen, fifty five, or fifteen hours.
So the AGM is interrupted here with Well, thank you for this short break. I'm taking up the AGM again. Here comes the current attendance the participants. 2,161 shareholders represented by the proxy holders who are authorized for 303,481,985 votes. Thus the AGM is quartered.
The list of attendees is, of course, electronically sent to the four proxy holders. And this takes us to the votes on items two to eight on the agenda. We are following the subtraction procedure. The no votes and the abstentions are counted and then deducted from the overall number of votes, which results in a yes vote. For the voting procedure, the four instructional proxy cardholders use the cards that they have received before the AGM.
Entering the instructional proxy cards into the IT system results in the number of shares. With yes votes, the proxy cards do not have to be kept up because the yes votes can be determined according to the subtraction procedure. The proxy cards are going to be read aloud by our notary, Mr. Briggs. The procedure is supervised by Mr.
Briggs and then calculated by Daniel Bauer. Furthermore, voting bans automatically recorded and considered in the results. That takes us to the vote on Item two on the agenda, resolution on the appropriation of the 2019 profits. I state that three board proposals are presented. And this implies that different payout days were presented for the payout day.
I read out the proposed resolution of the Supervisory and Management Board of the Estee Group, Bank AG and take this to the vote. Should this proposed resolution be adopted, then we do not have to vote on the other proposed resolutions by Bodak and Mr. Radmir, because there can only be one single payout day. And it's clear that for a deviating payout day, there will be no majority if this is accepted as it stands. The following resolutions should be taken for each share entitled to a dividend.
A dividend of €0.75 will be disbursed on the dividend payment day, adding up to a total of no more than €322,350,000 provided that on February, no mandatory legal ban on dividends is in effect and two, in the company's own reckoning, no recommendation of the European Central Bank applicable to the company opposes the payment of a dividend. To the extent that the profit available for distribution is not to be dispersed on the dividend payment day in accordance with above calculation, it shall be carried forward to new account. The company is not entitled to any dividend payments from own shares. So here's who is against this resolution? I read out the votes against Anne, Sammer, Mauer, Oberhammen and Knapp.
Are there any abstentions? Karlsnauer, Oberhammer and Knapp. Okay. Here we go. Let me read out the result.
Four votes, 303,019,734. That is the no votes, 354591. Number of shares valid votes were given for respective valid votes, EUR 303,374,225. Percentage of the total share capital is 70.59%. Extensions 107,760.
Here we've announced the result. This motion was adopted with the necessary required majority and thus the appropriation of the profit has been decided. Radeemijonak and Vatav Czerny motions are thus not required anymore. And now we go to Item three on the agenda. Resolution of granting discharge to the members of the management board with regard to the financial year 2019.
I refer to Section 125 of the Stock Corporation Act. When voting on the discharge of the management board, the members of the management board belonging to the management board in 2019 cannot exercise their voting rights. I'm now taking the read out proposed resolution to the vote. We also have a proposed resolution for an individual vote on Doctor. Peter Borsig.
So I'm asking you first to vote on the discharge of Mr. Peter Borsig. Who is against this proposal? Arvinsammer is a counter vote, Nauer, Oberhammer. These were the votes against.
Are there any abstentions? Arvinsammer, Oberhammer and Klaab. Thank you. Here comes the result. Four votes, 302,096,665 no votes, 1,080,234.
Number of shares valuables were given for respectively valid votes, 303,176,899. Percentage of the total share capital, 70.54% and abstentions, 304,074. I here would state that this resolution has been carried with a required majority, and the AGM has decided on the discharge of Peter Borsig. And this takes us to the discharge of the other management board members. And I read out the proposed resolution.
Again, Arden Sammer, Nava, and Obahama are against. Abstentions, Arden Sammer, Obahama, and Knapp. Here, the result is yet four votes, 302,000,000 sent 96,812 against $1,080,000.08 7 number of shares. Valid votes were given before respective valid votes. 303,000,170 6,899, percentage of the total share capital, 70.54% abstentions three and four thousand and seventy four.
This motion has been carried with the required majority. So all members or other members of the management board for the financial year 2019 has been decided. Item four on the agenda resolution on granting discharge to the members of the Supervisory Board with regard to the financial year 2019, I refer to Section 125 of the Stock Corporation Act. All those shareholders that were members of the Supervisory Board in 2019 cannot exercise their voting right here. And I'm now taking this proposed resolution to the vote.
The AGM may discharge the members of the supervisory board who were active in 2019. Who's against this? Instruction cards, Aden Samba Naua Obahama Knapp. Abstentions? Proxy cards?
Adensama, Nau, Obahama and Klaab. Results? Four votes, 100,955,996 against votes 1,893,817. Number of shared valid votes were given for respectively valid votes, 302,849,813. Percentage of the total share capital: 70.46%.
Abstention: 606,918. I herewith state that the motion has been carried with
the required
majority and the AGM has thus discharged the members of the Supervisory Board with regard to the financial year 2019. Thank you for your confidence. We move on to Item five, appointment of an additional auditor to audit the financial financial financial and the management's report as well as the consolidated financial statements in the group management report for the financial year 2021. And I'm taking this proposed resolution to the vote. AGM shall, in addition to the Spakasenbrufungsverband as statutory auditor, PWC Wirtzasenbrufung GEMBH elect as auditor for the annual financial statements, the management report, the consolidated financial statement and the group management report.
Who is against this proposed proposal? Proxy cards are Vinsamat, Nava, Obahama and Knapp. Abstentions, Adensammernauer, Obahama and Klaab. This proposed resolution has received the required majority. Lastly, AGM will have an has elected an additional auditor for the annual financial statement, the management report, the consolidated financial statement and the group management report.
Now item six on the agenda is supervisory board election. First, take the proposed resolution to the vote to reduce the number of Supervisory Board members from 13 to 12. Who's against this? Again, proxy cards, Adensama, Oberhammer, Knapp, and Nauer. Abstentions, Adensama, Oberhammer, and Knapp.
Here comes the result on item 6a. Reduction of the members of the supervisory board for votes. Two hundred and ninety eight thousand million nine hundred and eighty five thousand one hundred and seventy against votes. 308,615 number of shares valid votes. Votes were given for respective valid votes, 299,266,785 Percentage of the total share capital, 70.58%.
There were 4,215,200 extensions. Again, this motion was carried with the required majority and the AGM has reduced the number of Supervisory Board members from 13 to 12. And now adoption of the original proposed resolution, Maximilian Hanek should be elected to the Supervisory Board ending with this AGM until the end of the fiscal year 2024. Who's against this proposal? Arenzammenau, Oberhame and Knapp with the proxy cards.
Abstentions? Arenzammenau, Oberhame Knapp. Result, four votes, hundred and eighty seven million seven hundred and eighty thousand zero seven eight against votes, one hundred and fifty million zero seven four two hundred and sixty. Number of shares valid votes were given for, respectively valid votes, 302,854,338. Percentage of the total share capital amounts to 70.46%.
Abstentions, 627,647. This motion has been carried with the required majority. Maximilian Hardik is now elected to the Supervisory Board. And now the proposed resolution on Friedrichsanta should be elected with the effect of the end of this AGM until the end of the AGM for the fiscal year 2022. Who's against this proposed resolution?
Arden Sammer, Nau, Oberhammer and Knapp. Abstentions? Are there any abstentions? Arden Sammer, Oberhammer, Knapp and Nau. The result, four votes.
302,030,147 against votes, 1,327,025. Number of shares valid votes were given for respectively valid votes, 303,355,172 percentage of the total share capital, 70.85%, abstentions 124,813. Thus, this motion has been carried with the required majority And Frederic Szenter has been elected to the Supervisory Board by the AGM. And I now move on to the proposed resolution pertaining to Andreas Seymour to be elected to the Supervisory Board as of the end of this AGM until the end of the AGM for the business year 2022. Who's against this?
Ade, Samba, Noah, Sam and Knapp. Any abstentions? Adesammer, Naue, Overhammer and Knapp. The result for both 300 and two million 700 and 60 four thousand three hundred and sixty seven against votes, 591,674. Number of shares valid votes were given for, respectively, valid votes, 303,356,041.
Percentage of the total share capital is 70.58%. Abstentions, 125,944. I here would state that this motion has been carried with the required majority and AGM elected Anders Simmer to the Supervisory Board. Let me also state that Maximilian Havertz, Frederic Sante and Anders Schimmel declared before the election that they would accept their positions. My congratulations to Supervisory Board to become a member of the Supervisory Board.
Item seven, resolution on the remuneration policy setting out the principles for emoluments payable to management board members and supervisory board members. I'm not taking this proposed resolution to the vote. As published on our website, the AGM may decide on this motion. Who's against it? Aben Sama, Nau, Obahama, Knapp.
Extensions, Aben Sama, Nau, Obahama and Knapp. The result on item seven, four votes, 170,000,000 o three one zero zero three against votes 132,908,595 valid votes. Given, 302,939,598 percentage of the total share capital, 70.48%, abstentions 542,387. I here would state that this motion was carried with the required majority and the AGM has adopted the remuneration policy. Contradiction to the protocol, Steiner Car twenty nine four Steiner Investments, GEM Bihar, voting car twenty ninety four.
And now we resolve on Item eight of the agenda, resolution on the amendment of Section 19 of the Articles of Association. I'm taking the resolution read out by me to the vote. The AGM may decide on the amendments of the Arducer Resolution in Item 19. Who's against it? Adesammer, Nau, Obahama and Knapp.
Abstentions, Adesammer, Nau, Obahama and Knapp. Result on item eight on the agenda for votes 200,216,057 against votes 103,142,676. Number of valid votes cast, 303,358,733. Percentage of the total share capital, 70.58%, abstentions 123,252. I here will state that this motion was carried with the required majority and the AGM has agreed to the amendments to the AGM in item 19.
I was made aware that the justification of Mr. Steiner was not read out. Okay. I'll do this here with contradiction on item seven. When I emailed my questions on thirteen fifty three hours.
A comment was ignored, and thus the my proxy holder has to mention this and should be added to the protocol. The
low shareholdings of the management board members shame and the indication of the fact that the Supervisory Board Chairman bought 5,000 shares doesn't make it any better. We take note of that. And this concludes today's AGM. We have adjusted our agenda. The results of the votes will be published on the website of HASTE GROUP BANK AG.
I thank the shareholders for having followed the AGM on the Internet, and I here will close the twenty seventh Annual General Meeting. Keep healthy and remain loyal.