The City Mayors foundation included Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris on the shortlist of 26 candidates for 2014 World Mayor Prize.

Candidates claiming the title include, among others, the mayors of Calgary (Canada), Houston (USA), Bristol and Liverpool (Britain), Ghent (Belgium), Bordeaux (France), Seoul (South Korea), Izmir (Turkey) and Sydney (Australia). A public voting on the website  www.worldmayor.com is already underway.

Yiannis Boutaris is the winemaker, who was first elected as Thessaloniki Mayor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. With his reforming zeal, this "straight-talking maverick" managed to bring fresh energy in the old city of Thessaloniki. He promoted initiatives that reduced the operating costs of the municipality, improved the efficiency of municipal services, and last but not least, restored Thessaloniki as the cultural capital of the Balkans and the Middle East.