United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), part of KBC Group in Bulgaria, will mark this year’s edition of the Earth Hour event with two initiatives. By tradition, within one hour, lights in the UBB Millennium Centre building, housing the head offices of the entities of the biggest banking and insurance group in Bulgaria - UBB, DZI, UBB Pension Insurance and UBB Asset Management - will be switched off. This will happen at 20:30 h sharp, on 28 March, when both the Bank and Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia will turn off for one hour the lighting of the signature buildings in the centre of Sofia.

As an addition this year, and part of the partnership between UBB and WWF - the Earth Hour campaign creator and driver - employees of the KBC Group entities in Bulgaria will join forces for cleaning the Kakach riverbed in the vicinity of the Northern park in Sofia city.

The sustainable development and protection of the environment are at the core of the UBB system of values. The Bank makes substantial investments in reducing its own carbon footprint, and parallel to that it encourages - with all tools of influence at hand - businesses, partners, suppliers, the scientific and non-governmental community, the employees and the entire society to make the needed changes towards a more responsible attitude towards resources and nature and the transition to a cleaner economy and daily routine.

In 2025 UBB initiated a strategic partnership with WWF for protecting ancient forests in Bulgaria, which also continues during the present year with a focus on water and water resources in this country. This is part of the VODIM programme, in which UBB and Mastercard work in a consistent and sustainable manner for protecting and improving the quality of water sources from spring to tap. During 2026, too, the VODIM programme will continue and will further expand its regional and thematic scope.

Along with that UBB will continue evolving all its sustainable development activities and projects, both on its own and in cooperation with mass media, government and local institutions, universities and schools, non-governmental organizations, business partners, employees and customers.

The global Earth Hour campaign initiator is WWF. The campaign is being held in March and people from all over the world simultaneously switch off their electricity lighting, to draw the public attention to the climate change and environmental problems, faced by this planet. This year’s Earth Hour will be on 28 March.