On 21-st July there was a dedicated meeting held with representatives of the UBB management and with nearly 30 non-governmental organizations, universities, schools and institutions, during which KBC Group in Bulgaria presented their 2024 Report to Society and the new edition of the Choose to Help donor programme of UBB.

The event was declared open by Christof De Mil, Country Manager of KBC Group in Bulgaria and Chief Executive Officer of UBB. He thanked participants in the meeting for their proactiveness and engagement and emphasized on the important role of the non-governmental sector for the realization of sustainable development programmes and for seeking and finding solutions in support of the environment, social activities, healthcare, education and culture. A special highlight in his speech was the explanation of the main elements of the sustainability strategy, adopted by the Bank and by the Group entities in the process of transforming the economic model, both leading through their own example, and also through the funding of projects, which entail carbon footprint reduction and cleaner economy.

As regards the Choose to Help programme Christof De Mil emphasized in particular that upon the integration, completed at the end of last year, the united bank took the best projects, policies, technology solutions and processes from the two merging banks, with the donor programme being one of those projects, which UBB was going to proudly and enthusiastically continue to develop and improve. The huge interest in the meeting and the fact that since the launch of the new campaign on 7 July until the present meeting the number of submitted projects is close to 30 is indicative as to how the non-governmental sector assesses the Choose to Help programme, which is unique for Bulgaria.

Frank Jansen, Executive Director SME Banking at UBB, presented before the audience the main highlights of the new Report to Society, showcasing in a summary format all aspects and activities, linked to the implementation of the KBC Group’s 2024 Sustainability Strategy in Bulgaria. He emphasized on several sustainability highlights, aimed at carbon footprint reduction, financial literacy, healthcare, entrepreneurship, sustainable business opportunities, leadership, dialogue for engaging customers and employees, responsible behaviour and others. He also dedicated special attention to the activities, linked to reduction of the own carbon footprint as tangible contribution and gave as a particular example of sustainability that 99% of the purchased electric energy by the KBC Group companies in Bulgaria was from renewable sources, and that the level of total greenhouse emissions had been decreased down to 4600 tons of CO2, representing a 83% reduction as compared to the base level of 2015. Frank Jansen talked about the White Papers, representing sectoral analyses, and delineating both challenges, as well as opportunities in the following sectors: energy production, real estates, transport, agriculture, food and beverage industry, construction, metals, chemical industry and gave examples of successful projects, realized with the support of UBB in every one of those sectors, among which funding of photo voltaic parks, manufacturing of thermodynamic heaters, installation for processing of waste, calculator for measuring greenhouse gases in the agricultural sector, building of a hospital in Vratsa town and others.

Mila Milenova, Corporate, Digital & Marketing Communications  Director, presented before the participants details about the new edition of the Choose to Help donor campaign, by emphasizing on the criteria and the manner for assessing projects, including initial assessment in view of their compliance with the programme requirements, independent check about their feasibility and the capacity of the applying organization, performed by the Bulgarian Donor Forum, their review by the UBB SCR Committee, involving Executive Directors and top managers, relevant to the sustainable development, the management of risk and the corporate social responsibility and the final approval of short-listed projects by the Bank’s Management Board. She introduced the NGO representatives to the time frame, as well as to the process of filling out documents and reporting the implementation of projects. Special emphasis was made on the longevity topic, being significant with regard to projects seeking funding, as well as on the possibility of KBC Group employees to participate as volunteers in their realization.

The meeting spilled over into a dynamic discussion, linked to the programme, the opportunities to participate in it, various aspects, linked to the application process, the projects’ assessment and realization.