The Financial Times Central and Eastern Europe Forum returned to Vienna on 13 and 14 January for its 31st edition, bringing together finance ministers, central bank governors, leading banks, corporates and global investors. The Forum serves to connect key stakeholders, exchange ideas and shape the direction of finance and investment across the CEE region.
At this prestigious international platform, the National Commercial Bank organized for the sixth time a panel dedicated to Albania. This year the topic of discussion was “Albania’s EU Membership: Is the Financial System Ready?”, reaffirming its role as a key institutional voice of Albania in the international financial arena. Through this organization, BKT acts as an important bridge between Albania and global markets, supporting the country’s European integration agenda, fostering dialogue with investors and international institutions, and positioning Albania as a reliable and competitive investment destination.
The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Seyhan Pencablıgil, General Director and Board Member of BKT, with the participation of Mr. Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ms. Delina Ibrahimaj, Minister of Economy and Innovation, and Ms. Adela Xhemali, Executive Director General of the Financial Supervisory Authority.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Pencablıgil emphasized that the year 2025 marked a turning point for Albania, describing it as the “Year of Integration”, a year in which the country decisively moved from the preparation phase to practical approximation with the European Union.
He highlighted two key moments of strategic importance: the opening of all 33 chapters of EU negotiations and Albania's official membership in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) in October 2025. According to Mr. Pencablıgil, these developments show that the Albanian financial system is no longer just in the process of convergence with Europe, but is now operating within the European financial infrastructure.
Governor Mr. Sejko presented the latest economic and financial developments in the country, emphasizing the importance of foreign direct investment in supporting economic growth. He also focused on developments in the Albanian banking sector, emphasizing that financial indicators testify to a healthy banking system, resistant to shocks and capable of contributing to the country's economic development.
He underlined the Bank of Albania's continued commitment to modernizing the financial infrastructure as well as advancing the European integration agenda. Albania's accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) positions our country at the same functional level as the European payments market.
Ms. Ibrahimaj emphasized the central role of the financial sector in Albania's EU accession strategy, highlighting the government's focus on digitalization, innovation, and productivity growth.
She explained that Albania is actively implementing the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, using it as a financial and strategic instrument to accelerate convergence with the EU and attract high-value foreign direct investment, especially in FinTech and innovation-driven sectors.
In her speech, Ms. Xhemali noted the key importance of supervising the non-banking financial market, in accordance with the legal framework of the European Union, as well as the need to increase transparency standards and strengthen institutional trust.
She introduced the attendees to the three core components of the Solvency II framework, which include quantitative requirements related to capital adequacy and solvency, standards for corporate governance and risk management, as well as reporting, disclosure and transparency obligations. The implementation of this framework is expected to bring increased responsibilities and requirements, both for the supervisory authority and for entities operating in the insurance sector.
The transition process towards this new supervisory regime is planned to be carried out in several stages, including the preparatory phase, the adoption of the necessary legal and regulatory changes, as well as its full implementation.
BKT is the largest bank in Albania with total assets of approximately $8 billion on a consolidated banking group basis at the end of December 2025, also holding 25% of the total assets of the banking system in Albania. It operates in Albania through 62 branches and agencies and serves more than 850,000 customers with innovative products and services. The BKT Group includes the National Commercial Bank of Kosovo with 25 branches and the Electronic Money Institution BKT Pay.
Thanks to its high performance, BKT has been awarded various prestigious awards over the years as “Best Bank in Albania” by well-known institutions at national and international level such as The Banker, Global Finance, Euromoney, Emea Finance, Finance Central Europe, etc. It has also received positive assessments from well-known credit rating agencies such as S&P Global Ratings and JCR Eurasia Rating or correspondent banks such as Deutsche Bank. The bank’s sole shareholder is Çalık Holding, founded in 1981 in Istanbul, which operates in various sectors including energy, construction, textiles, mining and finance.
