First tranche to fund early works, to be completed in late April

UniCredit Bulbank will disburse the first tranche of the agreed loan for the construction of Bulgaria Mall after investors in the project LSProperty and Salamanca Capital have successfully fulfilled all utilization requirements. The investment loan for a total of EUR 165 million was agreed early October and will be disbursed jointly by UniCredit Bulbank and Bank Austria.

The construction of Bulgaria Mall, which is to be among the biggest and most modern business and shopping complexes in Sofia, has already started. Shortly after the first tranche of the loan is disbursed the early works will be completed (by the end of April, weather permitting) and building work will start.

“Even in a crisis situation, when there are excellent partner relations, as between UniCredit Bulbank, LSProperty and Salamanca Capital, the project implementation proceeds according to schedule – with all our requirements and conditions as a financing institution being fulfilled in keeping with the borrower’s interests”, UCB’s Real Estate Finance Senior Manager Martin Gikov said. “The support of UniCredit Bulbank for the construction of Bulgaria Mall once again confirms the commitment of the Bank to projects that add value to the economic development of the country.”

LSProperty’s CFO Michel Mac Iver confirmed that more than EUR 150 million will be invested directly in the implementation of the project.

Bulgaria Mall is located on the intersection of Bulgaria blvd and Todor Kableshkov blvd. The completed project will be worth a total of c. EUR 220 million.

Bulgaria Mall will comprise over 63 000 sq.m., of which 33 000 sq.m. will be developed as a shopping mall, and the remainder will be offices. The shopping mall is targeted to be opened by Christmas 2010, with the office space ready in summer 2011; the complex will also include over 1200 parking spaces. Strong interest has already been shown for the majority of the retail space by prospective tenants from both Bulgarian and a number of international companies.

Contacts:

UniCredit Bulbank, Public Relations and Corporate Communications

Victoria Blajeva, tel: 02/9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, tel: 02/9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch