The FINANCIAL — PASHA Bank Georgia plans to hit a number of operating mile-stones and targets related to the institutional development, staffing, IT systems implementation during 2015. The bank targets to expand lending going forward.
Just in two years after entering Georgian market PASHA Bank Georgia significantly popular for other banks when selecting a partner for syndicated deals. “The main reason other Banks find it comfortable to cooperate with PASHA Bank for syndicated deals is probably the fact that we are a corporate bank and we do not have retail operations as such. Therefore we do not compete with other banks for retail customers and this makes it easier for them to team up with us, rather than with other banks, with whom they compete on daily basis,” said Goga Japaridze, Commercial Director at PASHA Bank Georgia.
“The other reason is that we have a formidable capital base in Georgia of GEL 103 mln. which allows us to issue sizable loans. This naturally makes us a large player for the local market,” said Japaridze.
Q. What are the competitive advantages of PASHA Bank that you offer to your customers?
A. As you probably know, we are a corporate bank – we do not do retail banking at this stage of our development. To some extent this is much appealing to certain audiences; we pay great deal of attention to every single client, which may or may not have been possible if we were actively engaged in retail banking as well, which requires a lot of resources and time.
We have access to our parent bank’s balance sheet, which is very significant, scale wise to our local market. In a rare case when PASHA Bank Georgia cannot finance a very large deal on our own, we can always call upon our parent and fund the deals through Azerbaijan. This gives us an opportunity to take part in much larger transactions than it would have been possible if we were relying on our local capital base only.
Another differentiator and strength of PASHA Bank is that we operate regionally. In addition to Georgia and Azerbaijan, PASHA Bank has recently launched a fully owned subsidiary in Turkey.
Q. PASHA Bank is becoming a number-one choice for other banks when selecting a partner for syndicated deals. What is the reason for this?
A. The main reason other Banks find it comfortable to cooperate with PASHA Bank for syndicated deals is probably the fact that we are a corporate bank and we do not have retail operations as such. Therefore we do not compete with other banks for retail customers and this makes it easier for them to team up with us, rather than with other banks, with whom they compete on daily basis.
The other reason is that we have a formidable capital base in Georgia of GEL 103 mln. which allows us to issue sizable loans. This naturally makes us a large player for the local market.
Another advantage of ours, at least the way we perceive it, is that we have cut back on red tape to the greatest extent possible. We are actually able to react to proposals coming our way from other banks in a swift and efficient manner. Being able to offer an immediate collaboration often is of a critical importance when it comes to being selected a partner for a syndicated deal.
Q. What are your plans for 2015?
A. The key objective for 2015 would be turning profit, as we are still in red. Being a start-up this is very normal, as we have to incur certain ongoing costs related to the institutional development. But our portfolio size and operations have not yet reached sufficient scale to cover those costs.
We hope that break-even moment will come somewhere in the middle of year 2015 and we will turn profit by the end of the year. This is task number one for our team.
To do that, though, we need to hit a number of operating mile-stones and targets related to the institutional development, staffing, IT systems implementation and so forth.
We will continue working on diversifying our customer base across various sectors – our product offerings are also increasing in terms of currency, tenor and product features.
Q. During 2014 PASHA Bank sponsored a range of events in Georgia. Is this tendency going to continue in future?
A. Throughout 2014 we have been sponsoring such events as Business Brilliance Awards organized in Tbilisi by London based Global Event and Training Group (BOC), Caspian Energy Forum, Trade Finance Seminar, Tbilisi International Film Festival and many more.
Due to its daily activities and efforts in marketing communications PASHA Bank is gaining a growing recognition. We’ve been awarded “Bank of the Year” by the President of Georgia, Mr. Giorgi Margvelashvili in November 2014, at Caspian Energy Forum. Considering its recent marketing activities PASHA Bank Georgia won the nomination of “New-comer in Georgian Marketing” by EGO MAG. It is nominated for being “The Fastest Growing Corporate Bank in Georgia” by GLOBAL BANKING & FINANCE REVIEW, UK. We strongly believe that the positive tendency of raising awareness and recognition of the brand will continue throughout the following years.
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