OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2009. The top management of Ingosstrakh IJSC expresses its indignation with the statement made by PPF Investments’ spokesperson Jan Piskacek on December 9 with regards to the legal situation around the decisions of the Annual General Shareholders Meeting of May 29, 2009.

The statement of Jan Piskacek about "transactions made with violations of laws", which allegedly "could have grave consequences for Ingosstrakh", does not stand up to scrutiny. The statement about improper approval of transactions by executive bodies of the company is contrary to the fact, because decisions regarding these transactions were passed by a majority vote at the Annual General Shareholders Meeting and are absolutely legitimate, unless courts of the Russian Federation rule otherwise. As of December 10, 2009, there have been no effective judgments of courts.

Representatives of minority shareholders on the Board of Directors – Sedikh Alexander Borisovich, Vetrova Daria Alexandrovna, Garina Irina Radamirovna – took part in all meetings of the Board of Directors following the meeting of shareholders on May 29, 2009. They were informed of transactions, carried out by top management of the company in compliance with the abovementioned resolution of the meeting of shareholders. The above persons have never made any statements or objections to any transactions, nor have they expressed any opinions on violation of shareholder interests.

Comparing future of Ingosstrakh IJSC with "the miserable fate of Soyuz Bank" would be at least incorrect, and on the other hand, this statement reflects Mr Piskacek’s complete failure to comprehend the level and professional expertise of Ingosstrakh IJSC managers. We would like to remind Mr Piskacek that unlike those financial institutions, owned by the minority shareholder (PPF Investments), operating in the territory of Russia and the CIS countries, Ingosstrakh IJSC is the only private financial institution to have maintained its investment credit rating by Standard&Poor`s at "BBB-" level. High quality management and adequate level of Ingosstrakh IJSC sustainability have been confirmed by the auditors of the company. We would advise Mr Piskacek to thoroughly review the issue before making any public statements, and abstain from making unprofessional remarks in future.

General Director, Chairman of the Board of Ingosstrakh IJSC, A. V. Grigoriev.