Raiffeisenbank to Become a Partner in ComMission 2009 International Festival

Raiffeisenbank is to become a partner of the ComMission 2009 annual International Festival of Illustrated Stories. ComMission is one of the five largest European comics festivals; every year, more than 500 comics artists from various countries attend. The large exhibition programme, interactive projects, lectures, and master classes held by famous artists will allow attendees to better familiarize themselves with this genre, which is a major form of graphic art.

This year, the event called «Festival of Festivals» will be held in several Moscow venues simultaneously. From 30 April through 18 May inclusive, artists' works will be exhibited at the VINZAVOD Centre of Modern Art; from 1 through 12 May inclusive, there will be exhibits in the M'ARS gallery; from 30 April through 11 May inclusive, works will be shown at the Bilingua Club; from 30 April through 14 May inclusive, there will be a street display on Gogolevskiy Boulevard. The traditional Comics Photocross will take place at the former Park Avenue Disco.

Comics festivals from France, Italy, Spain, the USA, Finland, Sweden, Chile, China, Turkey, and Germany will be part of the Festival. The most interesting festivals will demonstrate to the world how the comics genre developed in their countries.

Pavel Gurin, CEO of ZAO Raiffeisenbank, noted: «Our sponsorship policy provides for the support of events that create a common cultural context between Russia and other countries. We believe it is important to support not only the cultural mainstream but also those movements that are not yet receiving the attention they deserve in our country. Comics is one of those genres.»

ZAO Raiffeisenbank is a subsidiary of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG. Raiffeisenbank is ranking 9th in terms of assets among the Russian banks based on 1Q 2009 results (Interfax-CEA). According to Interfax-CEA, ZAO Raiffeisenbank ranked 4th in Russia in terms of private deposits and 6th in consumer lending in Russia based on 1Q 2009 results.

Raiffeisen International operates one of the largest banking networks in CEE. 17 markets in Europe's growth region are covered by subsidiary banks, leasing companies and a range of other financial service providers. The group’s more than 63,000 employees service over 14.7 million customers via more than 3,200 business outlets. Raiffeisen International is a fully consolidated subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG (RZB), which owns about 70 per cent of the common stock. The remainder is in free float, the shares are listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. RZB is a leading corporate and investment bank in Austria and the central institution of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group, the country's largest banking group.