The message that the strategic cooperation between Alpha Bank and UniCredit opens a new era for their customers—and especially for entrepreneurship, including SMEs—was sent by the CEOs of the two groups, Vassilis Psaltis and Andrea Orcel, during the working meetings held in Athens by the management teams of the two institutions. 

In this context, as the Athens News Agency states, they jointly presented UniCredit's One Markets Fund mutual funds, which are now available in the Greek market exclusively through Alpha Bank.

Mr. Psaltis and Mr. Orcel confirmed the significant progress achieved in the implementation of their strategic agreement in less than a year and expressed their satisfaction with the positive results. They made special mention of the joining of forces of the two groups in Romania, which is progressing according to schedule, creating the third largest bank in the country, as well as the strong interest of Alpha Bank's clients in the onemarkets funds, which in just three months of piloting have already attracted capital of €100 million.

STATEMENTS

When Mr. Psaltis welcomed Mr. Orcel and his team to the bank's headquarters, he emphasized the new horizons that the partnership with UniCredit had opened up for Alpha Bank's business clients as well as the strong positive impact it had on the Greek banking industry and economy as a whole. "We want the strategic partnership with UniCredit to be an example of how European banks can develop a common strategy at a cross-border level," he said. As the Greek economy grows and regains its extroversion, the partnership with UniCredit gives our clients international opportunities through access to the 13 European markets in its network. Thus, in an environment of increased challenges and opportunities, our strategic partnership with UniCredit promotes extroversion and enhances the competitiveness of our clients, while strengthening our position as the bank of choice for Greek businesses, placing Alpha Bank at the forefront of the European banking market."

For his part, UniCredit Group CEO Andrea Orcel said: "I am really excited about what we are achieving in Greece through our partnership with Alpha Bank. In less than a year, we have achieved three times more than we expected based on our optimistic initial planning, and we see our teams working together efficiently. The environment is positive, and I believe we will surprise many with what the two banks will accomplish together." The visit of the UniCredit Management Team and the working meetings in Athens follow the similar visit of the Alpha Bank Management Team to Milan last April.