For the first time ever a Bulgarian bank is selected in the same year for best bank by The Banker, Euromoney, Global Finance and Global Custodian

UniCredit Group received the big prize “Bank of the Year in CEE” and “Bank of the Year in Italy” by The Banker

The most prestigious world financial magazine The Banker named UniCredit Bulbank as Bank of the Year in Bulgaria. The official award ceremony for the best banks in the world was held last week in London. The prize of UniCredit Bulbank was presented by the Editor-in-Chief of The Banker magazine Mr. Stephen Timewell to the CEO and Chairman of the MB of the bank Mr. Levon Hamparztoumian.

With The Banker award it is the first time ever when a Bulgarian bank has been selected in one year as best bank at the same time by the most prestigious financial magazines in the world - The Banker, Euromoney, Global Finance etc.. In 2007 UniCredit Bulbank was named for Bulgaria as:

* "Bank of the Year” (The Banker)

* "Best Bank" (Euromoney)

* "Best Investment Bank" (Euromoney)

* "Best Bank" (Global Finance)

* "Best Agent Bank" (Global Custodian)

This year, The Banker awarded banks across 143 countries and 7 regions in the world through an assessment process built around detailed questionnaires received from 457 banks that were examined by The Banker’s editorial team. They were not only focusing on the latest results, growth rates and performance, but also analyzing technology achievements, acquisitions and key strategic developments of each bank in each country and each region.

UniCredit Bulbank is the biggest bank in Bulgaria and holds number one positions in main financial indicators: (8 billion BGN), attracted funds (6.4 billion BGN), loans (5 billion BGN), capital (1.1 billion BGN) and business profit (210 mln. BGN)1. UniCredit Bulbank has over one million active clients. The excellent performance of the bank was confirmed by the credit rating BBB+, which was given to the bank after the merger by the most respected credit agency in the world Standard and Poor’s. This is the highest credit rating ever given to a Bulgarian bank.

As winner of The Banker Award, UniCredit Bulbank received also the prestigious Bracken award, named after Brendan Bracken, the founding editor of The Banker in 1926 and the chairman of the modern-day Financial Times from 1945 to 1958.

UniCredit is Bank of the Year in CEE

Together with the Bulgarian award UniCredit Group received this year The Banker award for “Bank of the Year in CEE” and “Bank of the Year in Italy”.The UniCredit Group is ranking among the top financial groups in Europe. UniCredit has a presence in 23 countries, with over 40 million clients and 9,000 branches, approximately 170,000 employees and total assets of approximately €1,018 billion (pro forma) as at 30 June 2007. In the CEE region, UniCredit operates the largest international banking network with over 3,700 branches and outlets, where more than 76,000 employees serve.