OREANDA-NEWS. July 18, 2007. Alfa-Bank has been recognized as the Best Bank in Russia in 2007 by Euromoney magazine. Announcing its decision, the Euromoney jury said that "Alfa-Bank is the real deal in the fast-growing Russian banking market. Alfa has a true universal banking franchise, with well-established retail, corporate and investment banking arms, and although its branch network is much smaller that those of Sberbank and VTB it nevertheless boasts a true nationwide reach that enables it to take full advantage of the strong economic growth in Russia’s far-flung regions. The bank can also lay claim to a number of impressive capital market transactions, with a series of well-received debt issues at home and abroad in both plain vanilla and structured credit formats."

In reaction to the award, Petr Smida, Chief Executive Officer of Alfa-Bank, said: "It is great news for us. We see the Euromoney award as recognition of our efforts in building a world-class universal bank with Russia nation-wide reach. We are grateful to Euromoney and we take this award as encouragement to stick to our growth strategy and to expand our leadership in Russian banking market."

In 2007 Euromoney magazine also recognized the following banks: UBS (Best Debt House), Dresdner Kleinwort (Best Equity House), and Deutsche Bank (Best M&A House).

In the past, Euromoney has named Alfa-Bank with the following awards: Best Forex Bank in Russia (2006), Best M&A Deal in Russia (2004), Best M&A House in Russia (2004), Best Bank in Russia (2002), and Highly Recommended (2000). Global Finance magazine also chose Alfa-Bank as the Best Trade Finance Bank in Russia in 2007.