Alliance Bank (Kazakhstan) issues additional data on creditors' approval of restructuring plan

/KASE, December 15, 09/ - Alliance Bank (Almaty), listing on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), provided KASE with a press release dated December 15, 2009: Quotation begins Alliance Bank is pleased to inform the majority of its creditors (95.1%) voted for approval of the restructuring plan at a shareholders meeting. According to the Kazakhstan legislation, the restructuring plan shall be considered approved if it is voted for by creditors holding two third of the bank debt subject to restructuring. All bank creditors attended the meeting and voted: - holders of foreign and domestic bonds, - creditors on bilateral and syndicated loans, - creditors on derivatives, - creditors on trade financing. The Restructuring plan is based on previous accords of the bank with the Creditors committee*: Memorandum of Understanding signed July 6, 2009 and Agreement on terms of restructuring signed October 5, 2009. The total debt subject to restructuring is KZT677 bn or USD4.5 bn (including accrued interests). The plan will allow for reducing the debt to KZT150 bn or USD1 bn. The approval is the last stage of the negotiations. It will be followed by an approval of the Restructuring plan in the Special financial court of Almaty, and implementation of procedures according to the Restructuring plan, which the bank is planning to take before March 1, 2010. At the end of the restructuring, Alliance Bank will be the first Kazakhstan bank to get over the crisis - with a clean balance, optimized organizational structure, transparent corporate governance system and new development strategy. Alliance Bank chairman Maksat Kabashev expressed his gratitude to all bank clients: "All this hard time we felt your support, and, on our side, did our best, to justify the confidence of clients. The bank, thanks to support of the government, kept the bank going and give a new impulse to its development. And I am glad to inform our clients we are entering the New Year, having left all problems behind". * Creditors Committee: Asian Development Bank, Calyon, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungs- mbH), JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited, Wachovia Bank N.A., ING Asia Private Bank Limited and HSBC Bank plc For additional information, please, contact: Alliance Bank press service Tel. +7 (727) 258 40 40 E-mail: pr@alb.kz Website: www.alb.kz Ends [2009-12-15]