OREANDA-NEWS. January 25, 2007. As it was informed by the Bank’s press service with reference to the press releases of international agencies.

Fitch Ratings Agency upgraded Ukrsotsbank ratings: long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) “BB-” (BB minus) from “B” and Support “3” from “5”. These ratings are removed from the Rating Watch Positive. A Long-term local currency IDR of “BB” has been assigned to the Bank. The Long-term foreign and local currency IDRs are placed on Positive Outlook. The Short-term IDR and Individual rating are affirmed at “B” and “D”, respectively. In addition, Ukrsotsbank two eurobond issues (USD100 million due 6 June 2008 and USD400m due 22 February 2010) have been upgraded to “BB-” (BB minus) from “B”, and the Recovery ratings of “RR4” on these have been withdrawn. Furthermore, in line with its policy for banks whose ratings are driven by institutional support, Fitch has withdrawn Ukrsotsbank sovereign-derived Support Rating Floor of ’B- ’ (B minus).

These rating actions follow the recent completion of the acquisition of a 94,2% stake in Ukrsotsbank by UniCredit (rated ’A+’/Outlook Positive).

The upgrade reflects Fitch’s view of UniCredit’s greater ability (as indicated by its Long-term IDR) compared with that of Ukrsotsbank previous majority owners, to provide the bank with support, in case of need. However, Ukrsotsbank Long-term foreign currency IDR is constrained by Ukraine’s “BB-” (BB minus) Country Ceiling, while the Long-term local currency IDR also takes into account country risks.

The Outlooks on Ukrsotsbank Long-term IDRs reflect the Positive Outlook on the sovereign Long-term IDRs (“BB-” (BB minus)). Should Ukraine be upgraded, Ukrsotsbank Long-term foreign and local currency IDRs will likely follow suit.

The Individual rating of Ukrsotsbank reflects existing pressure on capitalization and the bank’s potentially vulnerable liquidity position, although the new shareholder should help to address these issues. The rating also acknowledges the bank’s well—developed and expanding customer franchise, healthy bottom—line performance and good asset quality to date, as well as ongoing funding diversification.

Standard & Poor’s rating company had raised its long-term counterparty credit rating on Ukrsotsbank OJSC (USB) to “BB-” from “B” and removed it from CreditWatch, where it had been placed with positive implications on July 6, 2007. At the same time, the “B” short-term counterparty credit rating on the Bank was affirmed. The outlook is negative.

Standard & Poor’s press release, in particular, states: “The upgrade follows the acquisition by UniCredit Italiano SpA (A+/Stable/A-1), through its subsidiary Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG(A+/Stable/A-1), of a 94.2 % stake in USB.USB stands to benefit from this transaction in terms of financial flexibility, business development, and risk management. We consider USB to be a strategically important subsidiary of UniCredit and expect strong parental support in case of need.

The negative outlook mirrors that on Ukraine (foreign currency BB-/Negative/B; local currency BB/Negative/B), and a downgrade of the sovereign would trigger a similar rating action on the bank. However, should the outlook on the sovereign be revised back to stable, that on the bank would also be revised to stable. Similarly, a rising of the foreign currency sovereign rating would trigger an upgrade of the bank. We expect that Unicredit’s initiatives to optimize and adapt USB’s business model, processes, and internal technologies will allow USB to strengthen its commercial and credit position.The future direction of the ratings will also depend on the level of financial and operational support provided to USB by its strategic shareholder, but also on the evolution of the bank’s risk profile and financial performance.