Alfa Bank will support the forthcoming Russian Economic Forum that will be held in London, 10-12 April 2005.

Peter Aven, President of Alfa Bank and the former Minister of Foreign Economic Relations of Russia will speak on economic reforms and development of investment strategies during Opening plenary session on Monday April 11th. According to Aven, the next round of reforms in Russia must reestablish the confidence of domestic capital markets.

Alfa Bank will sponsor and speak at the first-ever special session “Spotlight on Ukraine”.

Ukrainian GDP has been growing at record rates, soaring over 14% in August 2004, prompting the need for a specially dedicated Forum session on one of Russia’s neighbours — for the first time in the history of the event. This panel will give delegates a broad overview of the country’s economy and highlight the best prospects for future business. We will also examine the political landscape following the dramatic 2004 presidential election results, and their impact on Ukraine’s complicated orientation towards both Russia and the West. Speakers to include Stefan Wagstyl, East Europe Editor, Financial Times; Noreen Doyle, First Vice President, EBRD; Dominic Gualtieri, Managing Director, Head of Equities, Alfa Bank.

According to Gualtieri, Ukraine’s sharp growth should not be ignored. While its evolving market is relatively young it offers high-yield opportunities for Russian and international investors.

Oleg Sysuev, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, will speak at the session “Russian Capitalism with a ‘Human Face’”. Speakers to include Sergei Soloviev, Film Director; Aleksei Volin, President, Rodionov Publishing House; David Hearst, Assistant Foreign Editor, The Guardian.

The Russian Economic Forum is the largest event dedicated to exploring Russia’s integration into the global economy. Last year, it was attended by over 1500 senior corporate leaders, government officials and economists and more than 200 journalists to discuss developments in the Russian economy. The official language of the conference will be English with simultaneous translation into Russian.