How does economic crisis in Greece affect the performance of Greek banks abroad?
– The poor economic situation of Greece influences the performance of Greek banks abroad. We went through a major recession in 2009 and in Bulgaria, the GDP fell by about 5,1% and therefore the demand for loans in Bulgaria fell sharply. Before about a year ago the credit growth was about 32% and now it is below 4 percent. So just like in all Europe the demand for loans has fallen in Greece and in Bulgaria. The question is now how much loans do banks give, but because of the recession, the question becomes how much is the demand for loans, because it is falling sharply. We do not have different policies for geographical reasons. Whatever our policy is in Greece, it is the same in Bulgaria as well. We will continue to give loans to our good customers, those that are likely to pay the loans back, and this is true for both Greece and Bulgaria, without any discrimination. Of course, we hope that the situation will quickly improve, because Greek banks are currently experiencing a problem wit
