UniCredit and Bank Austria Creditanstalt, a member of UniCredit Group, are planning an integration of their Bulgarian subsidiaries Bulbank, HVB Bank Biochim and Hebros Bank.

Within the next weeks, a local project structure will be set up to work out and coordinate all necessary activities. The planned integration of the banks should take place in 2007 and is subject to the approval of all relevant authorities. During the integration process, the banks will continue to operate in parallel. The already started merger process of HVB Bank Biochim and Hebros Bank will be completed in the second half of 2006.

As a first step, UniCredit and Bank Austria Creditanstalt nominated the designated top management of the merged bank. Levon Hampartzoumian, currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bulbank, has been designated as Chairman and CEO of the merged bank. Peter Harold, currently Chairman and CEO of HVB Bank Biochim and Hebros Bank, will become General Manager of the new bank. Andrea Casini, currently Chief Operating Officer of Bulbank, has been nominated as Deputy General Manager of the new bank. All nominations are subject to the approval of the local authorities.

The planned merger of Bulbank, HVB Bank Biochim and Hebros Bank will create the leading Bulgarian bank with total assets of EUR 3 billion, 326 branches and over 1 million customers. The new bank will be a part of the largest banking network in Central and Eastern Europe. UniCredit Group is a strong European banking network which serves more than 28 million customers via 7,000 offices in 20 countries. By joining forces, the new Group will significantly strengthen its position in Central and Eastern Europe, increasing the number of outlets to some 2,800 and the number of clients to around 16 million.