Crystal Management Team to be led by Ilia Revia

Kutaisi, Tbilisi, 23 May 2019 – JSC MFO Crystal is pleased to announce the appointment of Ilia Revia as Chief Executive Officer, effective from June 3, 2019.

Ilia Revia worked in IT sector since 1998, and in Georgian banking industry since 2007. In 2009 he joined the Bank of Georgia as a project manager and progressed to the position of Deputy Chief Information Officer in 2014. He has successfully managed a number of complex change management projects such as M&A of PrivatBank Georgia with the Bank of Georgia and agile transformation initiative at the Bank of Georgia. Since 2011 Mr. Revia also served as a project management coach and consultant to number of public and private organizations in Georgia. Ilia Revia holds graduate degrees from Jonkoping University (Sweden) and George Washington University Business School, professional degree of Project Management Professional (PMP) and an undergraduate degree from Georgian Technical University.

Commenting on the new appointment, Archil Bakuradze, Chairman of Supervisory Board said: “We are delighted to welcome Ilia Revia as a new Chief Executive Officer of Crystal. Ilia is bringing a unique experience of fintech and digital transformation as well as amazing leadership qualities into the management team. We have been impressed with his personal story and motivation, which are perfectly aligned with Crystal’s mission as well as brand philosophy. This appointment will undoubtedly strengthen company’s capacity to deliver on its ambitious strategy and mark the next stage in the corporate governance development. With this great addition, Crystal will have a clearer line between the management and Supervisory Board, which will further increase the level of our risk governance”.

“I’m honored to join this wonderful team. The mission of Crystal as Financial Inclusion Organization is essential, since the company creates opportunities for consumers to accomplish their targets, develop as personally as professionally and to fulfill their ambitions. This is a long journey of designing their future and Crystal will accompany them through this adventure. I believe that my role is to support Crystal in full realization of potential and achieve more success” – said Ilia Revia, Chief Executive Officer.

David Bendeliani, who worked as an Acting CEO, shall continue in his full capacity as Chief Financial Officer of Crystal.

About Crystal:
Crystal is Georgia’s leading non-bank financial institution, which manages 100 million USD loan portfolio, employees more than 1,000 professionals, operates through 62 regional branches and serves more than 100,000 unique clients across Georgia. Crystal acts as a platform for economic development of thousands of customers, providing them with innovative financial products and services tailored to their specific needs. Crystal is the first Fitch-rated non-bank financial institution in the region to be assigned a ‘B’ Rating with a Stable Outlook. The company was recently awarded by CSR Award for the best practices of the gender equality principles – UN SDG #5 and the nation’s Responsible Business award of 2018.