Awards for Excellence 2018
This year’s award for CEE’s best bank for small and medium-sized enterprises goes to regional sector specialist ProCredit Holding in recognition of its unique franchise, strong development orientation and ability to transform its business model to meet the changing needs of its countries of operation.
Founded in 2003, the German group originally focused on providing finance to smaller and micro enterprises across southeastern and eastern Europe. In 2013, however, shareholders and management agreed to move towards targeting the core SME segment.
Borislav Kostadinov, a member of ProCredit Holding’s management board, explains the change of strategy.
“Access to finance for microentrepreneurs was no longer a problem in our markets, so from a development point of view we were no longer adding value,” he says. “We felt it made more sense to focus on the Mittelstand, that is SMEs with formalized structures steered by forward-looking entrepreneurs, who are responsible to their operating environment and society, and who take environmental and social issues seriously.”
The decision was also commercially driven.