DSK Bank was named Wednesday Bulgaria's Bank of The Year for 2004 in a traditional contest, organized by local Pari Daily.

This is the eighth time that newspaper selects Bank of the Year in an effort to encourage the financial institutions to work for the progress of Bulgaria's economy.

Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov handed the prize on Wednesday evening to DSK head Violina Marinova.

In the same contest, Bulbank won the Market Share award and was also named the most efficient. ProCredit Bank got the prize for dynamic development.

The Clients Award went to Raiffeisenbank-Bulgaria.

For the fourth year in a row already the criteria for selecting the nominees in the prestigious contest are based on the dynamic and efficient development of the banks as financial intermediaries.

The winner was picked through an online vote on the Pari web site by the readers and the members of the Employers Association of Bulgaria (EABG), he Bulgarian International Business Association (BIBA) and the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF).

The selection panel was headed by Valeri Dimitrov, chair of the Audit Office. The former head of the panel Kameliya Kasabova, Deputy Parliamentary speaker, decided to withdraw from the post but remained a member of the panel.