On 9th and 10th of November several media published unauthentic information about alleged preparations for sales of Piraeus Bank in Ukraine.

Due to this fact Piraeus Bank ICB officially states that it does not conduct any negotiations about sales of the bank and no mandate for such negotiations was given to any third party. “This information is false. Neither Piraeus Bank ICB, nor Piraeus Bank Group is conducting any negotiations on the sale of the bank. Although we reserve our legal rights against anybody who would cause harm to our bank, to our main shareholder, which shares are listed in a European stock exchange, we still can not understand what could be the motivation for producing such rumors”, Yannis Kyriakopoulos, Piraeus Bank Group Country Manager for Ukraine, Piraeus Bank ICB Chairman of Supervisory Board, said.

Yannis Kyriakopoulos, Piraeus Bank Group Country Manager for Ukraine, Piraeus Bank ICB Chairman of Supervisory Board: "Increase of the registered share capital of the Bank almost in twice proves the consistency of the long-term plans of Piraeus Bank Group for the further development of its business in Ukraine"

On September, 13 2011 The Securities and Stock Market State Commission has registered the Public Joint-Stock Company “Piraeus Bank ICB” share capital increase by UAH 785 mio. Therefore the registered share capital of the bank grew up to UAH 1,628 bln.

“Increase of the share capital of Piraeus Bank in Ukraine was effected with the aim of bank’s liquidity increase, growth of financial stability, creation of provisions for non-performing loans and for the further development of the banking institution, – Yannis Kyriakopoulos said. – Increase of the registered share capital of the Bank almost in twice proves the commitment of Piraeus Bank Group to the Ukrainian market and consistency of the long-term plans for the further development of Piraeus Bank in Ukraine”.

Note. Piraeus Bank is one of the major banking institutions of Southern and Eastern Europe with assets of EUR 57.7 bln and total equity of EUR 3.5 bln (as of 30.06.2011). Established in 1916, Piraeus Bank today has presence in Greece, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Egypt, Serbia, Cyprus as well as in the world financial centres of New York and London. Piraeus Bank S.A. leads Piraeus Bank Group, which consists of 10 banks and 21 companies covering the entire range of financial services.

In Ukraine Piraeus Bank provides a full range of banking services to individuals, small and medium enterprises and corporate clients. Business lending and mortgages are the bank’s priorities.
Piraeus Bank is a member of Association of Ukrainian Banks, Forum of Leading International Financial institutions (FLIFI) participant of the Fund of Guaranteeing the Deposits of Individuals. The Bank is also included in the list of banks authorized by the Pension Fund of Ukraine to make payments of pensions and financial assistance.

Piraeus Bank has the highest rating of deposits reliability provided by “Credit-Rating” Agency (grade “5”; last update took place on 27.10.2011), that shows the bank's capacity to make payments on existing deposits timely and in full. The Bank has «uaA» long-term credit rating with the forecast "stable" provided by “Credit-Rating” (updated on June, 21 2011). This long-term rating belongs to the group of investment ratings that is one of the highest ratings given to banks operating on the Ukrainian market.

Piraeus Bank in Ukraine Press Service
Андрей Сахно
тел./факс: +38(044)495-8888
e-mail: asakhno (at)piraeusbank.ua