TBC’s Vakhtang Butskhrikidze Wins at FIRST Awards

The CEO of TBC Bank, Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, has been named among the four winners of the prestigious award of the international organization FIRST, the International Award for Responsible Capitalism 2019, held in London. Within the scope of the awards ceremony, HRH Princess Anne delivered the FIRST Award for Promoting Responsible Capitalism, and President of EBRD, Suma Chakrabarti, presented the 2019 Special Award in Adversity to Vakhtang Butskhrikidze.

The awards ceremony, which took place at Lancaster House on March 7, was attended by the diplomatic corps based in London, representatives of the business and government circles, including the Ambassador of Georgia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, H.E. Tamar Beruchashvili, and the employees of the TBC Bank London branch.

“Despite financial crisis, civil war and military confrontations, we have been achieving success for 27 years. Today, our brand is renowned in Georgia as being the most active in terms corporate social responsibility and is recognized for its support of business. We have managed to succeed as we have been doing business as a responsible citizen of our country,” Butskhrikidze said.

“We have developed special programs in the support of business, with particular accent on small and medium-sized businesses. Within the scope of the given platform, comprising of a number of activities, including trainings, lectures, business awards and meetings, we help them, as well as allocate investments and contribute to their growth and development.

“Our paramount aspiration is to create a digital ecosystem and thus facilitate life for people.

“After coming out on top in Georgia, we decided to move beyond its borders and expand in other countries. TBC aims to increase the number of customers to 10 million, which is five times more than the current figure.

“This is not my personal award. It belongs to the 7000 employees of TBC who deliver our culture and philosophy to our clientele. I am very grateful to have people like them by my side,” Butskhrikidze said.

FIRST has been annually awarding the leaders of the private business sector since 2000, for their successful entrepreneurship and social responsibility.

Over the years, the list of the winners of the prestigious FIRST awards has included such names as Guler Sabanci, Chairman of Sabanci Holdings; Howard Schultz, Chairman of Starbucks Coffee Company; Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever; Alan Wood CBE, Chief Executive of Siemens PLC and John Browne, Executive Director of British Petroleum.

FIRST is a multidisciplinary international affairs organization. Founded in 1984, it aims to enhance communication between leaders in the industries of finance and government worldwide and to promote strategic dialogue.

There are multiple high-level meetings and international conferences organized by FIRST and attended by the first figures of the governments and executives of corporations. The experts of the organization operate in 60 countries, on three continents. FIRST magazine was awarded The Queen’s Award for Enterprise twice, in 2010 and 2013.

By Ketevan Kvaratskheliya