“Forgive me the other banks, but the best bank in Greece right now is Karditsa Cooperative,” the Bank of Greece governor said last week. Janis Stournaras speaking at the TMEDE conference.
The head of the bank, which was founded 30 years ago, is Panagiotis Tournavitis, and since last year the Belgian private equity fund Helenos participates in the share capital of Karditsa Cooperative with a share of less than 5%.
And this was a step of confidence in the prospects of the bank, which, with the methodical steps of its CEO, was able to overcome the banking crisis and at the end of 2023 have a single-digit percentage of “red” loans, above 45. % which was at the root of the financial crisis.
In fact, he effectively managed problem loans without the help of the Hercules program, which small banks could not take advantage of. Because, as Mr. Turnavit said, we know our customers, we know their capabilities, but also their weaknesses.
According to the latest published financial data (2022), Karditsa Cooperative has assets of 207.5 million euros, operating profit of 4.3 million euros and deposits of 178.2 million euros. In the same year, 1191 new members were added to its shareholders, increasing the number of partner-members to 13297. Last year, the bank decided to distribute a dividend of 3.20 euros per cooperative share.
Karditsa Cooperative’s primary goal is to meet the financial needs of local people, with a particular focus on small businesses, farmers and individuals who are often underserved by larger financial institutions. The Bank actively finances initiatives in renewable energy, organic agriculture and social enterprise, contributing to the broader goal of regional sustainability and resilience.
Yiannis Stournaras praised Cooperative Karditsa, saying “it’s amazing to me on every level.”
And he even pointed out that when the disasters caused by Daniel happened in Thessaly, there was a fear that the Karditsa cooperative would face a similar disaster, and there was a meeting in the board of directors to see what we could do for the bank.
But the bank responded instantly, not only did it not disappear, but from the very first moment it was by the side of the victims, arranged loans, bought equipment.
And do you know why they did all this? Because they had provisions, they had means…
16 cooperatives
At this moment, let’s remember that recently there were 16 cooperative banks in our country. Only four continue to exist today: Kardita of Chania, Epiros and Thessaly
It should also be noted that Mr. Stournaras was present at the 30th anniversary event of the bank’s foundation on June 7, and in his speech he said, among others:
I have to admit that a few years ago I had a different view than I do today about cooperative banks and their importance to the local economy, but also to strengthening competition.
According to him, cooperative banks had to manage a large volume of “red” loans, which reached 65 percent for very small businesses, without the help of “Hercules”.
“However, all cases of cooperative banks are not the same. There are also cooperative banks that not only emerged unscathed from this deep and long-term crisis, but to this day their path remains upward, while recording continuous profitable operation and generous shareholder dividend policy.
“Karditsa cooperative bank is such a bank, which in my opinion is a model of good activity and a correct and stable business model.” Thanks to the continuous and effective efforts of its management and staff, with the simultaneous support of the local community and its shareholders, it is a successful example of the operation of a cooperative bank,” emphasized Mr. Stournaras.