Despite Bulgaria's strong ties with France, business connections between the two countries have not been as visible as those in other areas, but that does not mean that there are none.

One of the more visible French investments in Bulgaria is in the banking sector, where Societe Generale Group bought in 1999 Varna-based Expressbank, a lender focusing at that time on corporate clients and, as such, largely unaffected by Bulgaria's banking crisis in 1996.

An increased emphasis on lending to small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) followed, but the bank avoided going overboard during the credit boom years, sticking to its guns even if it meant sticking out among the competition.

With the flow of cheap refinancing abruptly ending because of the credit crunch, the bank found itself in a position to explore opportunities other rivals could not, a state recognised by the banking industry earlier in July, when Societe Generale Expressbank was awarded the dynamic development award for 2009 by the Bulgarian Bank of the Year association.

"Loans and deposits are the most tangible proof of the growth of our business. This prize is more a recognition of structural trend, not only the achievements of 2009," Societe Generale Expressbank chief commercial officer and deputy chairperson of the board Bertrand Cozzarolo told The Sofia Echo.

In 2009, the bank saw both its loans and deposit portfolios grow – credit lending increased by 11 per cent and deposits grew by 13 per cent, a trend that has continued this year. "We feel is that our brand and our image is quite strong and we have been able to attract deposits because everybody knows and perceives us as a very reliable partner," Cozzarolo says.

The key factor has been the bank's unwavering approach to risk management, he says. "Our policies have not changed before and during the crisis, we've always been responsible bankers. We've only been lending to people who have a good project and can actually repay. We were not part of the euphoria that took place before, in 2007 and 2008."

"We never stopped to lend, we were able and willing to lend last year and today people know that we are here. We can grow our exposure and grow our loan book and we feel that our brand is recognised that we can grow our deposits. It is a time of opportunity for us – of course we suffer like everybody else [because of the crisis], but maybe we are more able than others to pursue opportunities."

With a strong deposit base and support from the Bulgarian Development Bank, Societe Generale Expressbank recently boosted its ability to continue lending by contracting a 75 million euro credit line from the European Investment Bank. The funds would be used to support micro-enterprises and SMEs and, despite relatively low demand on the market, could be disbursed to final recipients within a year, Cozzarolo says.

Having completed its organisational transition to become an universal bank – Societe Generale Expressbank now offers financial markets, factoring, leasing and life insurance services, either directly or through subsidiaries – Cozzarolo says that the next step is improving the relationship with customers, without compromising the bank's commitment to proper risk management.

"We feel that we have a distinctive approach to the market, which might not have been fully recognised or appreciated a few years ago, when competition was so unbelievable that discipline was maybe somehow forgotten. We try to be very transparent because we believe that valuable relationships with clients are important in the long run. We feel that in the coming years, quality of products will make the real difference for clients and we are working on this to differentiate us from competition."

One area where Societe Generale Expressbank has been less visible is mortgage loans, but that is its next target. "What we have done recently is lower interest rates on housing loans. Today we are able to provide relatively cheap credits, but we do not compromise on risk. We did not relax our risk criteria, but we have relaxed our terms and conditions, mainly the interest rate, but not only that, we've lowered the fees and charges to clients."

More tangibly, the target is moving a couple of spots up and becoming one of the country's top seven banks by assets. What was previously seen as the bank's conservatism is its trump card during recession.

We are proud to say that we stand by our clients in these difficult times and we are proud to continue lending," Cozzarolo says. "We have been consistent throughout the business cycle and the prize we got recently is a certain way of recognition of our attitude towards our clients. It is positive feedback from other banks that we are doing the right thing."