David Kiguradze
Director, TBC Kredit
The company was established in 1999 as SOA Kredit and specialized only in the mortgage-lending business. It had a small number of customers. However, it became recognizable in 2008 after it was renamed TBC Kredit. The change was not only in the composition of shareholders. There was a general reorganization of the entire company. Over the years, we have achieved nearly all the goals that were set before us. We have increased the customer base four fold, expanded our service network both in Baku and beyond, introduced a new product line, and started using new software. We created a base that contributed to the improvement of business processes in the company and created a strong team of professionals who, in my opinion, are some of the best in this field. In this ever-growing market our main priorities remain the transparency of business and maintaining customer focus. We will continue the development of all our existing four product lines. However, we will shift our focus onto microfinance and on the smaller part of the SME market. We will also continue our mortgage lending program, in which we try to offer the best available terms to the market.
Alexander Yeriomin
CEO, OJSC Bank VTB Azerbaijan
The low economic efficiency of banks is disproportionate to the level of risks in operations and the level of expenses. This, in turn, leads to bigger problems rather than positive outcomes, even in the medium term. Currently, all progressive banks realize that and direct their efforts toward the improvement of client services and the optimization of procedures. Our bank has a unique opportunity to properly build its decisions and choose approaches based on the enormous experience of VTB Group’s banks in such countries as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. By analyzing the best practices and knowledge of the group, we know exactly what effects our decisions and approaches have on the organization of the banking business. We understand how to build an effective IT system and a reliable risk management system. Despite the fact that we are not a large bank in Azerbaijan, we have been making very ambitious plans and working hard to achieve them. For the past 10 months, the bank has increased its monthly volume of credit operations by 8.5 fold, and as a result we have gone up eight places in the bank rating list. For us, 2012 is the year of increased activity in the field of auto loans and small business.
Michael Hoffmann
CEO, Michael Hoffmann
The bank has a very clear strategy. From day one, we have been focusing on micro- and small-business financing, and we continue to pursue this mandate and develop in this market niche. Today, we are the number one bank in terms of financing businesses of this size. Meanwhile, we have strong exposure to medium-sized corporates as well as a fair amount of exposure to the retail market. The main reason for our success is that we have a clear strategic focus, which is to educate our staff at a very high standard. We take on young talent, often directly from university, and educate and train them internally. We have an excellent motivation system, and I firmly believe that the market recognizes AccessBank as an institution with exceptional staff. We have a very strong presence in the region, with a network of 34 branches that is constantly expanding. We will open a further four branches in 1Q2013. Later in 2013, it is the plan to continue opening branches in the regions where we are not yet present. After a recent meeting with the branch managers of the bank, it became obvious that in most of the regions of Azerbaijan we are the largest bank. This is because we have placed a very clear focus on the agricultural sector, and AccessBank became the first bank in the country to launch a special loan product for clients in this sector.
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