/IRBIS, July 28, 03/ - As follows from the materials, which have been published in the official representatives of Fitch Ratings Ltd. agency (Fitch) in the Internet, on July 22 of 2003 the agency set in operation a new scale of banks' support ratings, having changed methods of this index estimation. The original message of Fitch concerning this matter was published by IRBIS today in the material, which was dedicated to credit ratings of Development Bank of Kazakhstan CJSC (Astana).

According to information of Fitch, in compliance with the new methods support ratings of 1,264 banks were reexamined, including seven Kazakhstan banks. Below is the table of these banks' ratings from Fitch Ratings Ltd., which contains comparable information on old and new support ratings.

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                                Long-term    Short-term
                              credit rating credit rating Former    New
Name of                        in foreign    in foreign   support support
bank-issuer                     currency      currency    rating  rating
----------------------------- ------------- ------------- ------- -------
ATFBank OJSC                       В+             В         4Т       4
BANK CASPIAN OJSC                  В-             В         5Т       5
Bank CenterCredit OJSC             В+             В         4Т       4
Development Bank of                ВВ             В         4Т       3
Kazakhstan CJSC
Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan OJSC      ВВ-            В         4Т       3
KAZKOMMERTSBANK OJSC               ВВ             В         4Т       3
TEMIRBANK OJSC                      В             В         5Т       5
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One can see detailed information at www.fitchratings.com having chosen "Sectors"/'Banks and Securities Firms"/"New Support Ratings List'.

[2003-07-28]