ANNOUNCEMENT: On April 10, will be held S&P telephone conference "Perspectives of Russian, Kazakh & Ukrainian Banks: Overcoming Tension on the World Financial Markets"

/Standard & Poor's, April 08, 08/ - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services will hold a telephone conference call on Thursday 10th April at 5.30pm Moscow time, 3.30pm Central European time, 2.30pm London time and 9.30am New York time. Please join John Gibling, Director and Head of EEMEA Bank Ratings, along with senior analysts Ekaterina Trofimova and Eugene Tarzimanov, both from EEMEA Bank Ratings, as they assess the recent performance and future prospects of banks in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, against the backdrop of challenging conditions currently being experienced in the global credit markets. The main focus will be on the liquidity situation and risks in these three banking systems, and what this could mean for Standard & Poor's ratings on banks in the region. This will be followed by a Q&A session which is open to all callers. Please note that Standard & Poor's offers all of its broadcast teleconference calls to all interested participants on a complimentary basis. The call will begin promptly at the time indicated. Please call at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the call to complete the pre-call registration process. Live Dial-in Numbers: UK Local Call: 0845 146 2002 USA Free Call: 1866 389 9776 All Other: +44 (0) 1452 569 114 Conf ID Number: 42731999 Replays: Recorded replays of the call are made available about an hour after the call concludes and are available up until midnight on Thursday 17th April 2008. Replay numbers: UK Local Call: 0845 245 5205 USA Free Call: 1866 247 4222 All Other: +44 (0) 1452 55 00 00 Replay Access Number: 42731999# If you have any questions about the conference call, please e-mail: fleur_hollis@standardandpoors.com; Svetlana_Barabanova@standardandpoors.com [2008-04-10]