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Maya Georgieva joined First Investment Bank in 1995 as a Director the International Department. In 1998 she was appointed Executive Director of the Bank. Before joining FIBank Ms. Georgieva was a was a Deputy General Director responsible for money markets in the Bank for Agricultural Credit. Previously she spent 19 years of her career at Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) and has considerable experience in international banking. Her last appointment at BNB was as the Head of the "Balance of Payments" Division. She holds a Master’s in Macroeconomics from the University of National and World Economy, she has а specialisation in international payments at the International Monetary Fund and a post-graduate specialisation with the Bulgarian Scientific-Technical Union. In 2001, she was named "Banker of the Year" by the Bulgarian financial weekly "The Banker".

In FIBank Maya Georgieva is responsible for international payments, marketing and advertising, SME lending, sales, HR management and administration.

Besides her position in FIBank, Ms. Georgieva also chairs the Supervisory Board of CaSys International Card Centre, Skopje, the Board of Directors of Diners Club Bulgaria AD and she is a member of the Managing Board of First Investment Bank - Albania, Tirana..

Mrs. Georgieva, how is the Bulgarian banking market developing at the moment? To what extent did the rumours about FIBank going bankrupt affect the Bank?

Despite of the global financial crisis I believe that the banking market in Bulgaria is developing very well. For the first half of 2008 the assets of the bank system increased by 11.26%, the deposit mass from non-financial institutions grew by 4.52% and the deposits from individuals and households increased by 9.85%. The profit of the sector grew by 48.55% compared to the first half of 2007. These are exceptionally good indicators and they prove the stability of the banking sector.

Yes, the groundless rumours affected us - they made us stronger!

You know that we are a young and strong team and we have proved ourselves during the last ten years. It is no chance that we are the only young Bulgarian bank which has ranked among the top 10 banks in the country. The difficulties and the obstacles turn into challenges which we manage every day. We are proud that during the first half of 2008 we retained our position as the sixth largest bank in terms of assets and we keep being the sixth largest bank in terms of deposits.

The capital adequacy of the bank is very high - 13.80%. As you know we have increased our capital base with the profit pursuant to a decision of the General Meeting of Shareholders. The liquidity reached 24.13% which is a very high level for any bank in the world.

Have the customers drawn back or everything is already back to normal? 

Everything is back to normal - the drawback was only for two days. We have also attracted many new customers – even at the moment we are actively looking to hire new employees in order to manage with them and to continue offering the high quality services that our customers are used to. 

What is the market share of FIBank at the moment?

Based on data by BNB our market share of deposits is 7.4%, of loans - 7.1% and our market share of corporate loans is 8.1%. We are still among the leaders in the card business – based on data by VISA our market share is 11.6%. We retain our positions of a leading bank in the field of international trade financing – we have a market share of 10.2% based on data by SWIFT.

What are the financial data of the bank for the second quarter? Have you accounted any increase and how much?

In January 2008 we repaid BGN 400 million Eurobond on its maturity date so if some decrease in the bank’s assets can be noticed, it is exactly because of the repayment of this large amount. The assets as of the end of the first half of the year amount to BGN 4 072 mln. In June we received a new syndicated loan of 65 million Euro from 11 first class banks. Furthermore we were granted a 5-year loan of EUR 10 mln. by the German KfW Bank for tied lending to small and medium-sized enterprises.

As I said, our capital base increased from BGN 326 million to BGN 350 million – this is a very good basis for the growth of the bank during the second half of the year, which is a traditionally stronger period for us.

To what extent is the financial crisis affecting the Bulgarian market?

It is natural to affect it - funds are borrowed at a higher price on the international markets and the deposits offered on the local market cost more as well. The financial crisis and the inflation in the country affected the prices of the bank products. The requirements towards the loan applicants are becoming stricter. But I have no doubts that both Bulgarian business and banking system are developing positively and dynamically. This is evidenced by the high percentage of GDP growth - 7%. 

How is the Bulgarian deposit market developing, more and more banks are raising the interest rates to attract the customers? Is there strong competition; how willing are the people to invest their funds in deposit accounts?

All banks, and this is absolutely natural in the crisis situation, are aspiring to raise their liquidity. For this very reason all market participants are actively offering deposit products. The banking market is exceptionally competitive; let us not forget the decrease of the loan interest rates in the recent past. Competition is strong but this only comes to prove how well developed this market is in Bulgaria.

Which are the most advantageous deposit schemes offered by FIBank?

For me as a banker and a customer, of course, the best product at the moment is the "Free" deposit account. The deposit allows free and unlimited withdrawals at any time within the entire term, and additional amounts can be deposited by the end of the sixth month after the account opening. The "Free" deposit account is with attractive interest rate which is increasing every month. Its term consists of 12 one-month periods, to each a different interest rate is applied; the progressive interest rate starts form 6% for the first one-month period and reaches 11% at the end of the term. The interest is calculated on an annual basis and it is not capitalized every month. It is paid upon the expiry of the deposit term or upon its closure. The deposit account can be opened in BGN or EUR and FIBank has neither minimum required amount nor charge for account opening/for additionally deposited amounts.

Of course the customers have shown great interest for this deposit account. My other favorite product is the "Optima" account. With the additional services.

How is the loan market developing? Are Bulgarian banks endangered by bad loans? Are interest rates on consumer and mortgage loans expected to rise by the end of the year and how much?

The requirements towards the borrowers are rather strict. I do not think that the banking system is threatened by bad loans. On the contrary, the percentage of bad loans in the Bulgarian banking system is very low in comparison with the other developing countries. The Bank Supervision of BNB is strictly observing the banking sector as well as the introduction of the Basel II requirements.

I suppose that there will be a rise in the interest levels which will adequately reflect the inflation – the price of the resources will be higher. 

What do you predict by the end of the year? What do you expect from the closing of the financial year? Do you expect profit growth?

Yes, I expect a very strong second half of the year and the profit, of course, will grow together with the increased business volume.

What purposes has the bank set for the next year? What new financial products are you planning to offer?

Our main strategic goals are the following: to retain and increase our market share and to continue being a universal bank which offers high quality services to both individual and corporate customers. Our purpose is to concentrate on providing attractive loan products and full banking service to small and medium-sized enterprises. We will also work in the field of international trade financing in order to be able to offer advantageous facilities to the importers of machinery and moving goods.

To individual customers we will offer good new savings products, credit cards with very good conditions as well as new mortgage loans.

Of course we will continue developing of our branch network so we will be closer to our customers.