UniCredit Bulbank's CEO and management board chairman Levon Hampartzoumian has been named CEO of the Year for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regions by EMEA Finance, an international finance magazine.

The CEO of the Year designation is awarded to a leader who shows excellence by inspiring others to be their best and who brings innovation to the business they lead, according to a press release on the bank's website.

“Levon Hampartzoumian certainly ticks all these boxes," Christopher Moore, the publisher and CEO of EMEA Finance, said in the release. "We are proud to recognize him as our CEO of the year for Europe Banking Awards 2016."

“I consider myself a primus inter pares, being a lucky member of great team in UniCredit Bulbank and CEE," Hampartzoumian said in the release.

Under his leadership, the bank has been named the best in Bulgaria more than 20 times by professional and media groups.

The bank regularly invests in innovations and in hiring top talent dedicated to making banking more convenient and accessible to the general public, according to the release.