Rating Committee of the national rating agency "Credit-rating" updated and confirmed the current long-term credit rating of Piraeus Bank in Ukraine at the level of «uaA» with the forecast "stable" (updated on 21 June 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.

Since the assumption of uaA level on June 13, 2008, the rating level of Piraeus Bank in Ukraine remains unchanged, thus confirming the reliability of the financial institution. Long-term credit rating uaA reflects the high ability of the JSC "Piraeus Bank ICB" to fulfill its debt obligations in the Ukrainian financial market. A stable forecast indicates that there are no reasons to change the rating this year.

On the assignment of Piraeus Bank in Ukraine's investment rating affects a number of factors, depending on the quality characteristics of the bank. Thus, in the "Credit Rating" agency evaluation the following aspects have been taken into account: the presence of the bank’s support from shareholders - Piraeus Bank Group, one of the leading financial groups in Southern and Eastern Europe, a high level of bank’s capitalization (as of end of June 2011 the capital adequacy of Piraeus Bank ICB amounted at 24.3% with a minimum value of National Bank of 10%), ability to maintain a competitive position in the financial market, a wide network of branches generating a sufficient flow of customers as well as diversity of the loan portfolio. According to the methodology of the "Credit Rating" agency, this method of evaluation of the characteristics of financial institutions allows to choose the most reliable members of the financial market and help the public to determine the appropriate banks for cooperation.

Note. Piraeus Bank is one of the major banking institutions of Southern and Eastern Europe with assets of EUR 56.6 bln and total equity of EUR 4.3 bln (as of 31.03.2011). 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.

Piraeus Bank is a member of Association of Ukrainian Banks, 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 of Piraeus Bank provided in March 2009 (grade “5”), that shows the bank's capacity to make payments on existing deposits timely and in full.

Piraeus Bank in Ukraine Press Service
Andriy Sakhno
phone/fax: +38(044)495-8888
e-mail: asakhno@piraeusbank.ua