First Investment Bank has been declared Bulgaria's "Bank of the Year" for 2011 in the 20th edition of the annual "Bank of the Year" Awards, the organizers announced Wednesday.

First Investment Bank has also received the award for "Market Share" for 2011, Valentin Panayotov, chairman of the Bank of the Year Association told reporters at a round table in Sofia.

As in the 2010 edition of the awards, Corporate Commercial Bank has received the Development Dynamics Award for 2011.

Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria won the Efficiency Award for 2011, while Citibank N.A. - Sofia branch has triumphed with the award for Best Bank Branch in Bulgaria 2011 (as it did last year).

UniCredit Bulbank received the Client's Bank Award for 2011; unlike the other prizes, which are handed by the jury of the Bank of the Year Associated, this one is determined through an online vote, with 25 000 participating in the online poll for 2011.

Raiffeisenbank has also triumphed with the Secret Client's Award for 2011, for a second year in a row, the Secret Client's Award itself having been introduced for the first time in the 2010 edition of the Bulgarian Bank of the Year awards.

The Bank of the Year Association's founders feature a number of prominent Bulgarian professionals such as financier Andrey Pramov, the creator of the Bank of the Year prizes and long-time publisher of the economic daily "Pari" Valentin Panayotov, the Chair of the Bulgarian Audit Office Valeri Dimitrov, Sasha Bezuhanova, Director Public Sector for Growth Markets at Hewlett-Packard.

Bulgaria's 2011 Bank of the Year Awards are expected to be handed out Wednesday night at the Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

The round table of the Bank of the Year Association earlier on Wednesday featured participation by Ivan Iskrov, Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank.

The holder of the prize for 2009 was UniCredit Bulbank, and for 2008 - United Bulgarian Bank. Banks awarded in previous years were as follows: 1991 – Bank for Agricultural Credit; 1992 – Bank for Agricultural Credit; 1993 – Bulgarian Post Bank; 2000 – Bulbank; 2002 – Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria; 2003 – Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria; 2004 – DSK Bank; 2005 – United Bulgarian Bank and DSK Bank; 2006 – PostBank; 2007 – Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria.