Market value of Vneshtorgbank to be estimated in February

The estimation of the market value of Vneshtorgbank will be completed at the end of February 2003, the bank's Vice President Vasily Titov told journalists today. He noted they were preparing an agreement between Vneshtorgbank, J.P.Morgan's international consortium and the Ernst&Young audit company. The agreement is expected to be signed in the next few days and it will envisage that representatives of the consortium will estimate the market value of the Russian bank.

Titov confirmed information that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was going to acquire Vneshtorgbank's shares in the first half of 2003 and the international financial consortium was planning to buy a stake in the bank in the second half of this year. According to Titov, these acquisition plans were confirmed by the Russian government.

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