The problems of debt market, investment and public capital market were discussed at the Ukrainian Investment Forum organized by Ukrainian Society of Investment Professionals (CFA Ukraine) in Kiev for the first time.

Ukrainian Investment Forum became the first of the scheduled annual meetings of Association of Investment Professionals. During this Forum, the corporate community and the leading investors` representatives had the possibility to discuss recent trends in financial markets. This year's meeting was devoted to attracting investments in the times of change Ukraine and the world are going through.

Ukrainian Investment Forum was attended by heads of Ukrainian companies and investment professionals who represent the interests of investors, private equity funds, investment and commercial banks.

Among the Forum guests were Max Alier, IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine; Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova; Elena Voloshina, head of IFC Operations in Ukraine; André Küüsvek, EBRD Director for Ukraine; Beata Yarosh, management board member of the Warsaw Stock Exchange; Jorge Zukoski, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine; Boris Krasnyansky, managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Ukraine; Sergiy Novikov, Chief Financial Officer of Metinvest Holding; Dominique Menu, Head of BNP Paribas Representative Office in Ukraine, and Yannis Kyriakopoulos, Piraeus Bank Group Country Manager for Ukraine.

Yannis Kyriakopoulos, Head of Supervisory Board of Piraeus Bank in Ukraine expects the restart of the Ukrainian economy due to renewal of loans

Speaking on the condition of bank lending Mr. Kyriakopoulos noted that although banks still do feel the outcomes of crisis and old non-performing loans, the reduction in interest rates indicates a gradual resumption of lending.

"Banking business hasn’t done very well in the past 3 years because of the crisis, we don’t still see the full-scale resumption of lending by all the major banks and it is probably because they are still struggling with the restructuring of old non-performing loans. At the same time, we also see that rates do go down and this testifies the positive changes in lending operations. Besides, it will enable us to lend at the rates people can afford”, Mr. Kyriakopoulos mentioned.
According to Piraeus Bank Group Country Manager for Ukraine, the bank sees great prospects of investing in the Ukrainian business and expects the restart of the Ukrainian economy due to renewal of loans.

Note.

Piraeus Bank is one of the major banking institutions of Southern and Eastern Europe with assets of EUR 57.6 bln and total equity of EUR 3.4 bln (as at 30.09.2010). Established in 1916, Piraeus Bank today has presence in Greece, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Egypt, Serbia, Cyprus as well as in the world financial centres of New York and London. Piraeus Bank S.A. leads Piraeus Bank Group, which consists of 10 banks and 21 companies covering the entire range of financial services.

In Ukraine Piraeus Bank provides a full range of banking services to individuals, small and medium enterprises and corporate clients.

Piraeus Bank is a member of Association of Ukrainian Banks, participant of the Fund of Guaranteeing the Deposits of Individuals. The Bank is also included in the list of banks authorized by the Pension Fund of Ukraine to make payments of pensions and financial assistance.
Piraeus Bank has the highest rating of deposits reliability of Piraeus Bank provided in March 2009 (grade “5”), that shows the bank's capacity to make payments on existing deposits timely and in full

CFA is a respected global not-for-profit association of investment professionals, which aims to implement the highest ethical, educational and professional standards in the investment profession and awards the CFA and CIPM designations. The Representative offices of the organization operate in the United States, Europe, Middle East and Southeast Asia. In Ukraine, the association is represented by the Ukrainian Society of Investment Professionals (CFA Ukraine). CFA Society now numbers more than one hundred thousand investment professionals around the world. 

Piraeus Bank Press Service in Ukraine
Andriy Sakhno
phone/fax: +38(044)495-8888
e-mail: asakhno@piraeusbank.ua