The CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of UniCredit Bulbank is the first banker to top the list for best manager in Bulgaria's five-year history of the prestigious competition Manager of the Year.

As Manager of the Year 2012 Levon Hampartzoumian will be on the cover of the upcoming issue of Manager Magazine.

Levon Hampartzoumian, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of UniCredit Bulbank was named Manager of the Year 2012 in Bulgaria in the annual ranking of Manager Magazine. The President of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev handed personally the prize to the winner at a grand ceremony last night for the fifth edition of the competition, featuring top achievements in business management.

"He is the living history of the Bulgarian business for the past 20 years. He was everywhere, worked a lot and achieved many great successes. A great connoisseur, a wise person and a true leader he is", said the President Rosen Plevneliev, who opened the envelope with the name of the winner on stage at the Sofia Opera and Ballet and awarded the crystal trophy to the winner.

"I was blessed with a great team" was one of the first lines that Mr. Hampartzoumian said when receiving the award. "As a manager, I can say that I am lucky to have a great team. To everyone else here in this room and beyond I want to say you should never forget that we do not compete with the past, but we compete with the world, so you have to run at least as fast as the others in the world do”, he added. In the end Hampartzoumian congratulated the organizers for the professional competition and the hosts of the Sofia Opera and Ballet.

"Over the past five years since the competition was established, something very good happened – our society of good managers in the business, the ones who were nominated in the competitions, now has over 400 people and will continue to grow. The word manager is now pronounced with great respect.”, said Vasil Mirchev, chairman of VM Finance Group and publisher of Manager magazine.

Proof of respect for appreciation of the good management practices had been also the fact that apart from representatives of the business elite of Bulgaria, the ceremony was attended also by Ministers Delian Dobrev and Tomislav Donchev, the Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, many diplomats and media.

The extremely stylish ceremony was complemented by the soloists, orchestra and ballet of the opera. They performed impacting fragments from the premiere of "Bayaderka" and "Valkyura" by Richard Wagner. The programme of the evening genuinely impressed the audience.

As Manager of the Year in 2012 Mr. Hampartzoumian will be on the cover of the upcoming issue of Manager Magazine.

How is the Manager of the Year chosen?

According to the regulations the competition takes place in three stages. In the first stage managers from the highest level can be nominated - executives, chairmen of governing bodies, representing leading companies in Bulgaria, responsible for strategic decisions for their companies operations and development.

50 business leaders from all sectors of the economy continued to compete in the second stage of the competition Manager of the Year 2012.

The nominees for the second round were selected according to a precise methodology of the consulting company "Deloitte Bulgaria". At this point, the nominees had to provide additional information about the financial performance of the company they lead, and very detailed information about how good management practices are applied. Based on these indicators, "Deloitte Bulgaria" aired the final ten managers.

In the third round of crucial importance for the choice was the assessment of personality traits of the ten leaders who are divided into five main groups of criteria: leadership, entrepreneurship, strategic orientation and analytical skills, people management and resource management. Assessment under this criterion was done through interviews with the managers who participated in the competition and with people who work with them.

More information for media:

UniCredit Bulbank, Identity & Communications Department

Viktoria Blajeva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Magdalena Ivanova, Phone: + 359 2 9232 528, nbhebmfob/jwbopwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch