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RZB Group is “Best Bank in Eastern Europe and Central Asia“
26 March 2004
Global Finance named the “World's Best Emerging Markets Banks for 2004”. RZB Group also wins country awards for Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia.
Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB) and its 15 Network Banks in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were selected as winners of the "Best Bank in Eastern Europe and Central Asia"-award. RZB's network banks Banka e Kursimeve (Albania), Priorbank (Belarus), Raiffeisen Bank d.d. (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Raiffeisen Bank S.A. (Romania), Raiffeisenbank a.d. (Serbia and Montenegro) and Tatra banka a.s. (Slovakia) won the "Best Bank" awards for their respective countries. Global Finance magazine will name the "World's Best Emerging Markets Banks for 2004" in its forthcoming May issue.
"RZB Group embraces the CEE region like no other bank. It is also the international bank with the longest experience in CEE, having founded its first bank in Hungary already in 1986. We have anticipated the eastern enlargement of the European Union long before this was even dreamt about. Hence we feel honoured by Global Finance's confirmation of our achievements," says Walter Rothensteiner, Chairman of RZB’s Managing Board.
"Raiffeisen has outperformed the market year after year both with respect to growth and profitability. It has also constantly stepped into new markets – recently adding Kosovo, Belarus and Albania to its network. Customers have been attracted by a complete range of banking services and products throughout the region, including leasing, asset management, investment banking, M&A advisory, brokerage, pension funds and insurances", says Herbert Stepic, Deputy Chairman of RZB's Managing Board and Chairman of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG, the company bundling RZB’s subsidiaries in CEE.
The trophy for Asia went to HSBC, the winner for Middle East and Africa was the National Bank of Kuwait, and the award for Latin America went to BSCH. Criteria for choosing the winners by a jury of Global finance editors – with input from industry analysts, corporate executives and banking consultants – were growth in assets, profitability, strategic relationships, customer service, competitive pricing and innovative products.
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Global Finance magazine has more than 250,000 readers in about 160 countries, including chairmen, presidents, CEOs, CFOs, treasurers and other financial officers responsible for making investments and strategic business decisions for large global companies and financial institutions. Global Finance targets most of the 8,000 key portfolio investors who control over 80 per cent of all assets under professional management.
Vienna based RZB is the central institution of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group, the country's most powerful banking group. RZB also considers Central and Eastern Europe as its home market, where it operates via Raiffeisen International a network of 15 subsidiary banks with approximately 800 banking outlets, as well as two representative offices, in 16 markets of the region (including Albanian Banka e Kursimeve and Albania). In September 2003, Financial Times magazine The Banker has awarded the prestigious prize "Bank of the Year 2003" to RZB in Austria and its network banks in Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovakia.
