The cornerstone of K and H Bank's new headquarters in Budapest was laid on Monday.

K and H Bank's Belgian parent KBC trusts its investments and developments in Central and Eastern Europe are about to make significant progress, said John Hollows, KBC's man in charge of developments in the region and Russia.

K and H Bank has bought 54,000 square metres of the 76,000-square-metre complex. The bank will rent another 9,500 square metres. The bank and its units, which are now scattered around the capital, will all move into the new headquarters.

Hungarian-owned property developer TriGranit plans to complete the headquarters in the Millennium City Center, on the Danube in the south of the city, by the end of 2011.

K and H Group CEO Marko Voljc said the contract for the new headquarters was signed on the last day of 2008, in the midst of the crisis. He declined to reveal the cost of the investment.

TriGranit head Sandor Demjan said the company was not giving up plans to build a hotel and congress centre in the Millennium City Center.