OREANDA-NEWS. July 11, 2011. AccessBank won the award for "Best Bank of Azerbaijan" at the annual Euromoney "Awards for Excellence" in London. The Bank has received this award for the second consecutive year.

The Euromoney awards are the most prestigious in the financial world and are given to leading banks and financial institutions in more than 100 countries. The awards are given on the basis of examining the operations of the candidates by financial analysts, survey of international correspondent banks, renowned financiers and bankers. Position on the market, market share, level of banking products and services, management, professionalism of the staff, innovative characteristics and bank's capital are among the criteria taken into account.

In its Award citation Euromoney noted that: "As the rest of Azerbaijan's banking sector struggled with escalating arrears in the face of a slowing economy in 2010, SME and microfinance specialist AccessBank turned in another round of outstanding results. Deposit growth of 85% was four times higher than the industry average and net loans grew by 14.7%, thanks to booming demand for agricultural lending, a welcome sign that AccessBank is fulfilling its remit of encouraging diversification outside the commodity sector".

General Manager of AccessBank Andrew Pospielovsky welcomed the awards. "It is a great honor to earn Euromoney's Best Bank Award for the second consecutive year – this has bean earned through the hard work and dedication of each member of AccessBank's staff".

The Euromoney group comprises approximately 100 different companies specializing in finance and banking. The group publishes the monthly magazine, "Euromoney", which laid the foundation for the company in 1969.