United Bulgarian Bank, part of the Belgian KBC Group, received the big Bank of the Year award, granted by a renowned jury of the Bank of the Year Association at an official ceremony, held on 3 July 2019 in Sofia. Apart from this great recognition, the financial institution also received an award in the Dynamics of Development category. The organizer, Bank of the Year Association, presented its annual banking awards for the 27th time. The ceremony was attended by leading bankers, financiers, business and media representatives. The awards were received by Peter Andronov, Country Manager of KBC Group for Bulgaria and Chief Executive Officer of UBB.

“This award is a recognition of UBB’s development and its market achievement during the year, in which we successfully integrated UBB and CIBANK into the new United Bank. I would like to thank all colleagues at UBB, with whom we achieved the highest of results among the banks on the market during exactly that year of dynamic changes, for their high level of professionalism. I am happy that our assiduous work and unwavering drive for success have been rewarded”, shared Mr. Andronov. He addressed the jury and the competition organizers with gratitude for their high appreciation and outlined some of the main highlights in the banking sector, such as the consolidation and the strict monitoring on the part of the European financial institutions.

The evaluation criteria at the annual competition, organized by the Bank of the Year Association are based on the indicators in the annual reports of banks and transparently reflect the development of the banking sector. The big Bank of the Year award is yet another recognition of UBB’s strategic development after its acquisition by the Belgian financial group KBC. In 2017 UBB’s credit rating was raised by Fitch International Rating Agency up to ‘A-‘,  the highest level for a financial institution in Bulgaria.

Over the elapsed six months UBB became the most awarded bank in Bulgaria. In January the Chief Executive Officer of UBB Peter Andronov received a Burov prize for bank management from Atanas Burov Foundation, while only a month earlier he was distinguished as Banker of the Year. At the start of 2019, during a ceremony in London UBB was announced the Best Trade Finance Bank in Bulgaria by Global Finance international magazine. Dozens of other awards followed, such as for innovative product of the year, employer brand and communications.