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President Vladimir Putin: Andrei Leonidovich, go ahead, please.
Andrei Kostin: Vladimir Vladimirovich, we can now talk about the Vneshtorgbank Group today because our group now unites 16 banks operating in Russia itself and in countries in western Europe, the CIS and Southeast Asia. The group has had dynamic growth over the last three years and its assets have increased five-fold and now stand at one trillion roubles. Our loans portfolio has had a six-fold increase over this same period and we have seen a nine-fold increase in household deposits. The group had net profits last year of around $14 billion roubles. Over these last years we have opened a number of financial institutions or made acquisitions in the CIS countries, including in Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia.
The group’s rapid development requires additional capital and it is in this connection that we plan very soon to carry out an initial public offer. Unlike others, we wish to concentrate on the Russian market, carry out this IPO here in Russia and sell a considerable number of our shares to the general public. There is interest from the public in our plans. We intend carrying out these plans over the course of this year and next year.
Vladimir Putin: That is excellent to hear.
March 20, 2006, The Kremlin, Moscow