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EBRD TFP Awards recognise successful partner banks

Published: 13 May 2019 г.

The EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) honoured its most successful partner banks in 2018 in a special award ceremony on the eve of the Bank's Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Sarajevo today.

Participants from three continents win

EBRD recognises special achievements in trade finance by partner banks
Experts discuss compliance and capacity building for better trade flows
To date, TFP exceeds €1.5 billion in 28 countries

Prizes were awarded to:

Award for 2018	Winner
Most Active Issuing Bank in ARMENIA	Ameriabank CJSC
Most Active Issuing Bank in ARMENIA	Armswissbank CJSC
Most Active Issuing Bank in BELARUS	Priorbank JSC Member of RBI Group
Most Active Issuing Bank in BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA	Raiffeisen Bank D.D. Bosnia I Hercegovina
Most Active Issuing Bank in BULGARIA	Eurobank Bulgaria AD
Most Active Partner Bank in CROATIA	Erste & Steiermärkische Bank D.D. Zagreb
Most Active Issuing Bank in CYPRUS	Bank of Cyprus
Most Active Issuing Bank in EGYPT	Qatar National Bank Alahli
Most Active Issuing Bank in THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA	Komercijalna Banka AD Skopje
Most Active Issuing Bank in GEORGIA	TBC Bank
Most Active Issuing Bank in GREECE	Alpha Bank
Most Active Issuing Bank in JORDAN	Cairo Amman Bank
Most Active Issuing Bank in KAZAKHSTAN	JSC Bank Centercredit
Most Active Issuing Bank in KOSOVO	NLB Banka Prishtina
Most Active Issuing Bank in KYRGYZ REPUBLIC	Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank
Most Active Issuing Bank in LEBANON	Société Générale du Banque au Liban S.A.L.
Most Active Issuing Bank in LEBANON	Fransabank SAL
Most Active Issuing Bank in MOLDOVA	CB Mobiasbancă - Groupe Société Générale
Most Active Issuing Bank in MONGOLIA	Khan Bank
Most Active Issuing Bank in MONTENEGRO	Hipotekarna Bank AD Podgorica
Most Active Partner Bank in MOROCCO	BMCE Bank of Africa
Most Active Issuing Bank in ROMANIA	Alpha Bank Romania SA
Most Active Issuing Bank in SERBIA	Eurobank a.d. Beograd
Most Active Issuing Bank in TAJIKISTAN	Bank Eskhata OJSC
Most Active Issuing Bank in TUNISIA	Banque de Tunisie
Most Active Issuing Bank in TURKEY	Alternatifbank A.Ş.
Most Active Issuing Bank in UKRAINE	Raiffeisen Bank Aval JSC
Most Active Issuing Bank in UZBEKISTAN	National Bank of Uzbekistan for Foreign Economic Activity
Most Active Confirming Bank	Commerzbank A.G.
Most Active Issuing Bank – Green Trade Co-branded with FT Specialist and The Banker	Raiffeisen Bank Aval JSC
Most Active Confirming Bank – Green Trade Co-branded with FT Specialist and The Banker	UniCredit
Deal of the Year – Green Trade Improving the energy efficiency of greenhouse infrastructure in Armenia	Converse Bank
Deal of the Year – Green Trade Improving the energy efficiency of greenhouse infrastructure in Armenia	KBC Bank
Academic Excellence Award in Cooperation with the ICC	National Bank of Egypt

The TFP Awards Ceremony was attended by Senad Softic, Governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, hosted by Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director, Financial Institutions, and supported by Ambassador David Yung-Lo Lin, Head of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK.

Francis Malige said: "Trade finance is key to boosting economic development and growth. And it is our strong network of partner banks who are helping to make this happen, by providing the financial means and support that allow companies to identify, explore and conquer new markets. At the EBRD we are extremely proud to work with these partner banks across three continents. The TFP awards today reflect that pride, as well as our recognition and appreciation for their efforts in making an impact."

The TFP Awards Ceremony marked the end of the Information Session of the EBRD's Trade Facilitation Programme. It attracted over 270 representatives from issuing and confirming banks under TFP, as well as key industry specialists, regulators and representatives from the World Trade Organization, the International Chamber of Commerce, International Compliance Association and the Wolfsberg Committee. The TFP Information Session was opened with welcome speeches from the event sponsor, Addiko Bank.

A focus of discussion was the development of trade finance in the Western Balkans and representatives of partner banks in the region (Addiko Bank, Komercijalna Banka, Eurobank and Commerzbank) provided insights into the ways in which trade and trade finance is - and can - connect economies for stronger growth, the theme of EBRD's Annual Meeting and Business Forum this year.

Another focus of debate was correspondent banking and de-risking: experts highlighted responses to current trends and challenges in anti-money laundering (AML), compliance and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations, and outlined possible solutions that would support the free flow of trade in EBRD's regions of operations.

The Information Session was also a reminder that the TFP has become the networking hub and capacity-building engine in the trade finance sector. Through its e-learning and training initiatives, TFP has pioneered support for the career development of international trade financial professionals in partner banks across three continents. It has now even extended its unique training model to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EBRD regions of operations.

Speakers at the TFP Information Session included Marc Auboin from the World Trade Organization; Vincent O'Brien from the International Chamber of Commerce; Olivier Paul, Head of the Banking Commission, ICC, France; Ulf-Peter Noetzel from Deutsche Bank; Rudolf Putz, EBRD Associate Director and Head of the Trade Facilitation Programme, and Kamola Makhmudova, EBRD Senior Banker in the Financial Institutions team.

The event concluded with a dinner reception hosted by Taiwan Business EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund, where international attendees had the opportunity to enjoy traditional cuisine and hospitality from Bosnia and Herzegovina, while networking and making new business contacts in the region.

Launched in 1999, the EBRD's Trade Facilitation Programme aims to promote foreign trade to, from and among the countries in which the EBRD invests. Through the programme, the EBRD provides guarantees to international confirming banks and short-term loans to selected banks and factoring companies for on-lending to local exporters, importers and distributors. The TFP currently includes over 100 issuing/partner banks in 28 countries, with limits exceeding €1.5 billion in total and more than 800 confirming banks worldwide.