OREANDA-NEWS. December 5, 2007. Sberbank has won the "Bank of the Year 2007 In Russia" nomination at an international contest annually held by the reputable British magazine The Banker, the bank press service reported. The winner is determined by financial performance results and opinions of reputable analysts in the financial sector. It is the second time that Sberbank wins this nomination: it has The Bank of the Year 2004 award.

This honourable title comes as a recognition of Sberbank's leadership in Russia and its enhanced international standing. Sberbank is the only Russian bank who made its way into the top 100 of the world's banks. The Banker rates Sberbank number 66 in the top 1,000 largest credit institutions of the world. In the list of the largest banks in Central and Eastern Europe, Sberbank has been a steady number one for a number of years already.

Furthermore, Sberbank is number 74 in the top 100 of the largest companies of the world by capitalisation. As at October 1, 2007, its capitalisation exceeded 92 billion US dollars. The Banker notes that Sberbank maintains absolute leadership in the Russian banking sector. Increased capitalisation through additional share issue drives the growth of assets and capital adequacy ratio and opens new opportunities for major corporate lending.