OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2007. Legal merger of ZAO Raiffeisenbank Austria and JSC IMPEXBANK is completed, the bank's press service reports. The entry to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities was made on November 23, 2007. Following the completion of the legal merger, all branches of the joint bank shall operate under the brand name of ZAO Raiffeisenbank.

Herbert Stepic, CEO of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG, commented: "This merger is a decisive step towards continuing our successful track record in Russia. With the integrated IMPEXBANK I am confident that we will prolong our dynamic growth. Our Russian subsidiary is not only the largest in the group, this merger was also the largest in our group’s history. The fact that the merger was completed in time is again proof that we deliver what we promise."

"The history of Raiffeisenbank in Russia has many landmark dates, but the legal merger is probably the most important event since the Raiffeisen Group entered the Russian market in 1996. We are glad to present to the Russian and international community a new bank — Raiffeisenbank, combining the best traditions of Raiffeisenbank Austria and the extensive branch network of IMPEXBANK. We congratulate all of our colleagues in the joint bank, who have worked very hard for us to reach this point together. We congratulate all of our clients, who shall now have access to an even wider range of products and services. ZAO Raiffeisenbank aims to be the best universal bank at federal level in Russia. ZAO Raiffeisenbank's top priority in Russia remains the same: to provide first-rate service and to constantly extend the range of products we offer," said Johann Jonach, CEO of ZAO Raiffeisenbank.

Together, ZAO Raiffeisenbank Austria and JSC IMPEXBANK, are the largest foreign capital banking group in Russia. According to Interfax-CEA, based on Q3 2007 results, the combined bank is ranked 7th on total assets, 7th on the volume of corporate loan portfolio, 4th on the volume of private deposits and 6th on the volume of retail loan portfolio.

At the end of Q3 2007, the total assets of the combined bank amounted to 393.9 billion roubles, net profit — 10.3 billion roubles. Total capital of the bank was at 48.9 billion roubles.

The volume of deposits of the two banks at the end of the third quarter 2007 came to 247.2 billion roubles, and the component of private clients in it exceeded 66 billion roubles. The loan portfolio of the two banks exceeded 296.7 billion roubles. The corporate loan portfolio (except interbank loans) amounted to 203.4 billion roubles. The retail loan portfolio rose to 60 billion roubles.