Actuality February 14, 2008

   French bank Societe Generale

and KM Technologies, the owner of 30% stocks of Rosbank, completed the transaction on sale of the Russian bank. Thus, in spite of billion losses from the scandal with the trader, the French bank received control over the third large branch network in Russia.

Societe Generale paid $2,3 bln for Rosbank altoge ther and that became the new record on the Russian bank market.

   Subsidiary CJC KM Invest – KM Technologies, engaged in assets' sale of Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov, declared about completion of transaction on sale of 30% s tocks of Rosbank to the French bank group Societe Generale. Thus, the French bank Societe Generale became the owner of Rosbank controlling stock interest and paid $2.33 bln for it altogether.

   Earlier, Frenchmen owned 20% minus one stock of Rosbank that acquired in two stages in June and September, 2006.

Then Frenchmen signed the option for acquisition of 30% stocks with its realization opportunity to the end of 2008. Last autumn they took the decision about its long-term realization.

   The largest French bank group Societe Generale belong Banque Societe Generale Vostok, mortgage bank DeltaCredit and also RusFinance company in Russia.

   As of October 1, 2007 Rosbank occupied the 13th place on the size of the own capital (RUR 31.5 bln) and the 10th on the sum of net assets (RUR 262.4 bln). Until now the beneficiary owner of Rosbank was Interros Group (69.9%), 20% minus 1 stock – at SG.

   As evaluated by experts, in the absolute value it is the largest transaction on bank acquisition on the Russian market – price-to-Rosbank-value (P/BV) ratio totaled about 4."The high price shows that fundamental indices of the Russian bank system did not suffer serious changes as a result of crisis", marked Maria Kalvarskaya, bank analysts of KIT Finance.

   The transaction was closed in spite of serious problems at both parties. Year ago Interros Group coowners and Vladimir Potanin declared about division of joint business.

In order to settle the matter of assets division at least partly, in October, 2007 they signed the agreement of CJC KM Invest assets management. In January, 2008 in a Cyprian court Mikhail Prokhorov attached stocks that owns CJC KM Invest among which where stocks of Rosbank.

Just quite recently the attachment was removed

    The French bank also had problems during preparation to option realization.

At the end of January, the bank confessed that from fraudulent operation of trader sustained losses in size of €4.9 bln. "Taking into account the difficulties that arose at French Societe Generale lately, money for the transaction with Rosbank are probably not the own facilities of Frenchmen", says Natalia Orlova, the senior analyst of Alfa-Bank. In her opinion, it is debt financing attracted, more probably, w

ithin the framework of nonmarket transaction.

"Taking into account the fact that lately about Societe Generale talk as about the company engaged in search of a new stockholder, is not eliminated the version that money for transaction with Rosbank Frenchmen received from one of the potential investors with whom the agreement about entering Societe Generale capital is already reached", an expert considers.