The Supervisory Board of UniCredit Bulbank has approved the appointment of Teodora Petkova as the new Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of UniCredit Bulbank, subject to preliminary approval by BNB.

After the BNB approval, Teodora Petkova will formally start the position on 1 May, 2019.

Teodora Petkova will replace Levon Hampartzoumian, who will leave his position at the end of his mandate at the end of April 2019, after 18 successful years of leading Bulgaria’s biggest bank.

They will closely work together to ensure a smooth transition and Levon Hampartzoumian will continue to support the bank in a supervisory function.

“Levon is a visionary in the Bulgarian banking sector and for me and for UniCredit it has always been an honour to work together” commented Carlo Vivaldi, Head of CEE Division at UniCredit. “He has led one of the Group’s banks for the longest period, showing strong commitment and achievements. Under his leadership, UniCredit Bulbank has been a market leader for almost two decades and an active contributor to the economic development of Bulgaria. He will hand over a bank in an excellent position to continue to grow, to invest in its people and in innovation, always aiming to provide the most modern banking service to its clients”. Carlo Vivaldi added: “I am delighted that the new CEO has been chosen from our internal successor pool, which demonstrates our continued commitment to the development of our people, and confirm our attention to diversity and gender balance. Teodora has the right leadership skills to continue the success of UniCredit Bulbank and we offer her the warmest welcome to the new role.”

 

“It is an honour for me to be part of UniCredit’s community. Our main goal throughout the years has always been to constantly improve, to be a strong, stable, predictable and responsible partner to over one million individuals, households, small businesses, big companies and local communities. I am proud of what our clients and colleagues have achieved. Bulbank today is strong, sound and well equipped for future growth and I am confident that  Teodora is the right person to continue on this path and take Bulbank forward”, said Levon Hampartzoumian, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of UniCredit Bulbank.

Teodora Petkova commented: “I am very happy to be given this opportunity and I look forward to working with the team to build on the successful legacy of UniCredit Bulbank”.  

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Teodora Petkova is a member of the Management Board and Chief Risk Officer at Unicredit Bulbank in Sofia. She is the Chairing head of the Credit Council of Unicredit Bulbank, of the Provisioning and Restructuring Committee, and a member of the Credit Committee. She started her career in the Bank as a credit analyst in 2002 and became senior  manager of the corporate credit team in 2007, leading the post-merger integration and implementation of the best practices in credit underwriting operations for the three local banks that were merged into UniCredit Bulbank. In the period 2009-2015, Teodora was Head of the Credit Risk Department of the Bank.  Then she gained cross-divisional business experience as Head of International Center in the Corporate and Investment Banking Division, managing the relationship with the international and multinational corporates, having Bulgarian establishments.

 She is part of the Supervisory Board of UniCredit Consumer Financing EAD and has years of experience as part of the Board of Directors of UniCredit Factoring EAD. Teodora Patkova holds a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria. She also has a Global Executive MBA from Carlson Business School of the University of Minnesota and from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

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Additional media information:

Victoria Blajeva, tel +359 (0) 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Beatris Nikolova, tel +359 (0) 2 9232 528, cfbusjt/ojlpmpwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, tel +359 894 518 193 , flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch