By Stoyan Genov, Raiffeisen Bank in Bulgaria | What could five towns in Southeast European with a population of fewer than 50,000 people have in common? Obviously, the small population… But how about global business leadership? Yes, it’s actually possible. The Bulgarian towns Letnitsa (population: 5,000), Bozhuriste (8,000), Lozen (6,000), Montana (50,000) and Vidin (40,000) […]
By Stoyan Genov, Raiffeisen Bank in Bulgaria | “One of the fastest growing fintech destinations in the CEE Region”; “An evolving fintech hub”; “The most vibrant fintech destination in the SEE region”. You can often hear or read these definitions of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Trust us, this is not an overstatement. Behind these […]
By Katja Fiedler, Raiffeisen Bank International AG | The participants of the third round of Raiffeisen Bank International’s (RBI) fintech partnership program Elevator Lab were announced on the Finalists Day in mid-October. The six chosen fintech startups will get valuable support by experts and mentors in developing unique pilot projects, so-called PoCs (Proof of Concept), […]
By Gunter Deuber and Ruslan Gadeev, RBI Vienna | The times of more radical changes and upheavals in the Russian banking sector seem to be over for now. Following years of more subdued profitability (from 2014-17) the Return on Equity (RoE) rebounded nicely in 2018 – a trend that continued in 2019. We also see […]
By Marie Mesropyan, Raiffeisenbank in Russia | Big business is still experiencing a shortage of digital banking services. Leaders of the financial industry are actively trying to solve the problem Digital banking infrastructure for business in Russia, especially for large and medium businesses, still lags behind the mass retail segment, experts say. “In general, development […]
By Anna Gorshkova, Raiffeisenbank in Russia | Prior to moving to Moscow in January 2016, Roland Wass, Head of Risk and Credit Management at Raiffeisenbank Russia, spent 13 years in Belgrade working for Raiffeisenbank Serbia. He spoke to Discover CEE about the challenges of moving to a new country, cultural and professional differences between Austrians […]
Tanja Dietrich-Hübner, Head of Sustainability at Austria – REWE International AG, Michael Huber, Fund Manager at Raiffeisen KAG, Christian Pladerer, CEO of the Austrian Institute of Ecology, and Doris Ribitsch, Head of Molecular Biology at the Institute for Environmental Biotechnology at BOKU Vienna (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences), discuss the challenges surrounding the […]
By Evliana Berani, Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo| Until several years ago, Florie Bajraktari Vanhove was one of 700,000 Kosovans living abroad. Today, she is a successful business woman, running a unique restaurant in the downtown of Prishtina. Kosovo’s diaspora is huge. Difficult times forced many Kosovans to live from money sent to them by relatives living […]
By Christian Wolf, RBI | Driven by the aim of providing better and better customer experience, changes in the global payments landscape have accelerated over the past few years and resulted in an increased array of payment options to choose from for customers across the globe. In addition to the advancements in technology, Open Banking […]
By Michael Heller, RBI | Financial markets had for a long time prepared themselves for an initial interest rate hike by the European Central Bank (ECB) in 2019, but developments in the first half of the year were almost diametrically opposed – with corresponding bullish implications for the local real estate market. The financing environment […]
By Amra Tabaković and Irma Ahmetspahic, Raiffeisen Bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina As in most countries, small and medium-sized companies play an important role in the economic growth of Bosnia and Herzegovina and are essential for creating new jobs. But overcoming obstacles and starting a solid business is never easy. Begex doo Hadžići, a kitchen […]
Karlheinz Dobnigg, President of the Management Board of Raiffeisen Bank Bosnia and Herzegovina, explains why the country is so attractive for investors: Maybe you are interested in…