RZB decorated as Best Bank Risk Management in Eastern Europe.

Treasury Management International named the world’s best banks for “Innovation and Excellence in Treasury Management 2004”.

Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG (RZB) was chosen as“Best Bank Risk Management – Eastern Europe 2004” by a reader poll of the Treasury Management International''s (TMI) annual Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Treasury Management. This is the first year that RZB has won this award, which was presented at a ceremony in London by sailor Shirley Robertson, Gold Medallist in the 2004 Athens Olympics. TMI explained its decision with RZB’s commitment to delivering innovative Risk Management solutions to the international treasury arena, in particular within the Eurozone and Centraland Eastern Europe.

“This award clearly honours both RZB’s own good risk management and its outstanding track record in Central and Eastern Europe as well as its high reputation in the international treasury scene. Customers throughout Central and Eastern Europe and in Austria highly value themade-to-measure and innovative risk management solutions offered by the treasury experts of the RZB Group”, says Walter Rothensteiner, Chairman of RZB’s Board of Management.

“Treasury has been, and remains, one of RZB’s most profitable core businesses”, says Patrick Butler, Member of RZB’s Board of Management responsible for Treasury and Investment Banking. Last year, Treasury was considerably improved by implementing the Global Treasury System – RZB’s new front-to-back system. The system has both broadened the product line and further enhanced the quality of customer-bank relations, as well as strengthened RZB’s own-account trading.

“We are constantly building our product range and customer coverage in Central and Eastern Europe. This demands an ability to measure and manage risk, locally and internationally. We have to be able to get a swift, accurate answer to the question ''what if?''. It is satisfying that our efforts in this area have been recognised, not just in the bottom line, but through winning this award”, comments Patrick Butler.

“We were pleased to receive many new votes for this year’s awards, particularly from the members of The Euro-Associations of Corporate Treasurers. With this significant increase in votes, the 2004 award clearly demonstrates that RZB is well positioned in the constantlychanging treasury world and is ''getting in right'' in the eyes of the treasurer”, says Robin Page, Chief Executive of TMI Forums and Events.

TMI is a leading specialist magazine for corporate treasuryprofessionals. The London based magazine provides a monthly forum fordiscussion of current treasury issues to 15,000 experts around the world.

RZB is the central institution of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group,the country’s most powerful banking group. RZB is a leading corporate and investment bank in Austria and also considers Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as its home market, where it operates, via its wholly owned subsidiary Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG (Raiffeisen International) a network of 15 subsidiary banks with more than 800 banking outlets, as well as two representative offices, in 16 markets of the region. In March 2004, Global Finance announced that RZB and its Network Banks were selected as winners of the “Best Bank in EasternEurope and Central Asia”-award. The Network Banks in Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovakia won the “Best Bank”-awards for their respective markets. In September 2004, The Banker awarded the prestigious prize “Bank of theYear 2004” to RZB’s Network Banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus and Albania.