Auditor's conclusion on JSC Neftebank 1998 financial reporting

/KASE, 19.01.00/ - JSC Neftebank (Aktau, official list of securities, category "A") has granted to the Kazakhstan stock exchange (KASE) the auditor conclusion of the firm Arthur Andersen (Almaty, Kazakhstan) on the 1998 financial reporting. The auditor notes that as of December 31, 1998 the bank's reserve for cover of the eventual credits losses is by 96,604,000 tenge less than should be. In result a dead loss of the bank for the year and the eventual credits losses provisions are underestimated by the indicated sum. In opinion of the auditor, except for the above-stated question, the financial reports represent an authentic and objective picture of all essential financial aspects as of December 31, 1998, and also of results of its activity and cash flow for the year, according to the instructions and requests of the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The auditor's conclusion is conditional. Besides the auditor has drown Neftebank management's attention to the bank's ownership capital, which on December 31, 1998 has made 852,006,000 tenges, while the National bank requires to increase it to 1,000,000,000 tenge. The auditor's conclusion granted by the emitter, does not contain the Neftebank financial reporting corrected by the auditor with the purpose of conformity to the International book keeping standards.