TFP Information Session and Awards Ceremony 2023

On 16 May 2023 we held our Information Session and Awards Ceremony in the historical city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to honour our partner and confirming banks for their work in what was a pivotal year for the Bank’s regions and the wider global community.  

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso welcomed more than 300 participants and congratulated our partners on their resilience in the most challenging year the world has faced in the 21st century. 

Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director, Financial Institutions, added his congratulations, saying: “The demand for TFP products continues to grow. The programme remains focused on keeping global trade moving and, in 2022, achieved a record annual volume of €3.6 billion, surpassing the previous record of €3.2 billion in 2021. This record-breaking performance is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the TFP.” 

Francis Malige and Rudolf Putz, Head of the TFP, presented awards to the most active issuing banks in each of the 26 economies where we operate. In 2022, we issued more than 1,750 guarantees and short-term disbursements to support our partners amid headwinds caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a worsening global economic outlook.  

Rudolf Putz congratulated the partner banks, saying: “It is a special occasion for the TFP to meet the partners with whom we work so closely throughout the year from all over the world. We celebrate the banks that have been particularly high performers in 2022, as we do all of our partners. These banks have all made an impact on their economies and it is an honour to enjoy their successes with them.”  

Jürgen Rigterink, EBRD First Vice President, invited the 2022 winners of the Green TFP Awards to the stage. Established in 2016, the Green TFP is now in its sixth year and has supported more than 1,500 green transactions, totalling over €1.8 billion.   

In line with President Renaud-Basso’s theme of resilience, the Bank this year introduced a Resilience Award. Ukrgasbank was commended for supporting the import of biogas for biofuel production to help shore up the Ukrainian economy in 2022. Other awards went to partners that facilitated the import of textile equipment to Uzbekistan and the import of solar cells to Türkiye.  

The Green TFP 

In 2021, the EBRD committed to dedicating at least 50 per cent of its annual business volume to green investments by 2025. By working with its partners, the Bank achieved this objective in both 2021 and 2022.   

“Since its inception, the EBRD has had the mandate of supporting countries in their transition to a sustainable market economy, with an ever-increasing focus on helping economies transition to ones that are green, low carbon and resilient,” said Jürgen Rigterink. “Working with the financial sector has been a cornerstone of achieving this goal.”  

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), which joined the TFP as a confirming bank in 1999, was named Most Active Confirming Bank. Throughout 2022, RBI worked with many EBRD partner banks in regions such as eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. 

The Deal of the Year award was shared by TBC Bank and Armswissbank, which together completed multiple cross-border factoring transactions to support payments by an Armenian chocolate producer to a Georgian distribution company for services in Georgia. This is testament to the TFP’s factoring operations, which have grown steadily to more than €200 million in facilities across Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine. 

 We would like to thank the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund for its continued support and friendship. We would also like to acknowledge our local sponsors, Asaka Bank, Ipak Yuli Bank and Uzpromstroybank, for their valuable contribution to the event, as well as our media partner, Trade Finance Global.