OREANDA-NEWS. July 24, 2009. On the occasion of the state visit of the Austrian Federal President, Dr. Heinz Fischer, to Ukraine the Austrian Trade Commission organized an Austrian-Ukrainian Economic Forum hosted by the President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Christoph Leitl, and the Austrian Trade Commissioner in Ukraine, Gregor Postl, reported the press-centre of Ukrsotsbank.

About 250 high-ranking representatives from Austrian and Ukrainian companies and government officials took the chance to learn about the latest developments of the Ukrainian economy, the current investment climate, and most current tax and customs changes.

After these very interesting presentations, the highlight of the afternoon were the welcome addresses by Mr. Postl, Austrian Trade Commissioner in Ukraine, followed by Mr. Skrypchenko, President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Christoph Leitl, President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Danylyshyn, Ukrainian Minister of Economy, and Mr. Mitterlehner, Austrian Minister of Economy. At the end, Heads of State, Mr. Yushchenko and Mr. Fischer spoke to the audience stressing the very good bilateral relations and underlining the importance of increased economic cooperation.

Before the closing of the Economic Forum were reports by Austrian companies in Ukraine on their experiences in doing business in Ukraine (Raiffeisen Aval and Siemens). After that drinks and small snacks were served at a cocktail reception, which was sponsored by Ukrsotsbank.

This cocktail reception and the coffee breaks between the presentation sessions were heavily used by representatives of Ukrsotsbank among whom there was Olena Bilous, Specialist of International & Multinational Corporates for German speaking Countries in Ukrsotsbank and Ukrsotsbank CFO, Harald Vertneg to get into contact with numerous Austrian and Ukrainian managers presenting the advantages of the services of our Bank and our banking Group.

"In the course of communication I and Olena learned about the strong desire of the Austrian businessmen to seek support from a professionally acting bank like our — Harald Vertneg said.

I can say that it was a successful day for the Ukrainian – Austrian relations in general and for Ukrsotsbank in particular through creating relationships with numerous potential new clients and having the possibility to present Ukrsotsbank as member of UniCredit Group – the only true European banking Group — and its professional services".