OREANDA-NEWS. January 26, 2009. Joint Stock Company “Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan” (the “Bank”) (LSE: HSBK) hereby announced that Mr. Grigoriy Marchenko, Chairman of the Management Board of the Bank, has been appointed as the Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan in accordance with the Order of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 21 January 2009, reported the press-centre of Halyk Savings Bank.

Mr. Marchenko will therefore leave his post as the Chairman of the Management Board and member of the Board of Directors of the Bank which he has held since January 2005.

Mrs. Umut Shayakhmetova who previously held a position of the Deputy Chairperson of the Management Board of the Bank has been appointed as Chairperson of the Management Board of the Bank. Mr. Alexander Pavlov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank noted: “On behalf of the Bank, I would like personally pass on our congratulations to Mr. Marchenko on his new appointment and wish him good health, success and prosperity in all his endeavors.

Grigoriy Marchenko is a prominent and important person in the Kazakhstan financial system. Mr. Marchenko successfully chaired the National Bank of Kazakhstan during the period from October 1999 until January 2004 and was one of the key architect’s of Kazakhstan’s ground-breaking financial reforms earlier in the decade.

As the Chairman of the Management Board of the Bank, Mr. Marchenko has played a central role in the Bank’s business activities including formulating and implementing strategy of a regional financial services group, introducing banking know-how and technologies, our successful IPO on the London Stock Exchange in December 2006, our three international Eurobond issues and more recently attracting support for our syndicated loan in the midst of increasing global financial instability.

Furthermore, he has helped grow the Bank’s deposits and establish our reputation as a reliable and stable financial institution.

Under Mr. Marchenko, the Bank received a number of international awards including “Best Bank in Kazakhstan in 2006” by Euromoney, “Best Retail Bank in Central Asia in 2006 and 2007” and “Best Retail Bank in Kazakhstan in 2007” by The Asian Banker, in 2008 – “Best Bank in Kazakhstan”, “Leading Bank in Corporate Governance in Emerging Europe” and “Best Managed Bank in Emerging Europe” by Euromoney, “Bank of the Year in Kazakhstan” by The Banker.

I would also like to assure all our clients, shareholders, partners and employees in the continuity and preservation of the Bank’s existing strategy for 2008-2010. The current top management team of the Bank is one of the most experienced teams in Kazakhstan and is well-equipped to not only withstand the current difficulties in financial markets, but also to successfully realise the Bank’s strategy, which remains focused on developing as a leading client-oriented regional financial services group”.

Mrs. Umut Shayakhmetova has been appointed as Chairperson of the Management Board of the Bank.

Mrs. Shayakhmetova was previously a Deputy Chairperson of the Bank since November 2004 and is responsible for corporate banking. From 1997, she worked at ABN AMRO Bank Kazakhstan where she held a number of positions in the structured finance team before becoming Chairman of the Management Board of ABN AMRO Asset Management in 1998 and, in 2000, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of ABN AMRO Bank Kazakhstan.

In 2001 she became a member of the Advisory Committee of the National commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan on securities. Mrs. Shayakhmetova is a graduate in economics of the University of People’s Friendship, Moscow, and holds an MBA from Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.