21 March 2008

Raiffeisen awarded "Best Bank in Central and Eastern Europe"

Global Finance decorated RZB and Raiffeisen International with the prestigious award for the entire region. Country awards were given to the Network Banks in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovakia.

Renowned Global Finance magazine awarded the title "Best Bank in Central and Eastern Europe 2007" to Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB) together with Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG for the sixth time already. In addition, the Network Banks
in Albania (Raiffeisen Bank Sh.a), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Raiffeisen Bank d.d. Bosna
i Hercegovina), Serbia (Raiffeisen banka a.d.) and Slovakia (Tatra banka a.s.) received the title "Best Bank" in their local markets.

Global Finance editors – with input from industry analysts, corporate executives and banking consultants – selected the winners by the following decision criteria: growth in assets, profitability, strategic relationships, customer service, competitive pricing, and innovative products. The list of "The World's Best Emerging Markets Banks" will be published in the magazine's May 2008 issue.

"This award is yet another independent acknowledgement of our quality and expertise. Our strategic approach and success in Central and Eastern Europe is once more validated by Global Finance's decoration, which seamlessly fits into a row of awards, we were proud to receive
in the past", Walter Rothensteiner, RZB's CEO and Raiffeisen International's Supervisory Board Chairman said, referring to the fact that Raiffeisen was already awarded with such commendations by other magazines in the past.

"Raiffeisen International is a strong and reliable banking partner in CEE. Our sales network comprises more than 3,000 business outlets in 17 CEE-markets. No other international bank
in the region offers such a far-reaching and closely-knit network. I'm proud that our good reputation is honoured by both our customers and the international media," Herbert Stepic, CEO of Raiffeisen International and Deputy Chairman of RZB, said.

"Emerging markets are attracting increased attention as the global economy expands", Joseph D. Giarraputo, editor and publisher of Global Finance said. "We have identified the banks that provide service to corporations seeking to take advantage of substantial opportunities for growth in a sometimes challenging environment." The magazine, which publishes for 21 years now, has more than 280,000 readers in over 158 countries. It especially aims at portfolio investors
and financial analysts.

The Network Banks in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia received awards as "Best Bank" in their local markets already for the fifth consecutive time – Slovakia for the seventh time in the bank's history.

Raiffeisen Bank Sh.a. continues to be Albania's number-one bank with a balance-sheet total
of more than 1.8 billion euros as of 30 September 2007. Its 530,000 customers are serviced through 95 business outlets.

Raiffeisen Bank d.d. Bosna i Hercegovina managed to increase its balance-sheet total
by 20 per cent to 1.9 billion euros at the end of the third quarter 2007. It has a market share
of over 20 per cent and services more than 700,000 customers via 89 business outlets.

Raiffeisen banka a.d., the first foreign bank after the political changes in the autumn 2000, began operations in 2001 and has been Serbia's largest bank since November 2004. At the end of the third quarter 2007 the bank had a balance-sheet total of 2.5 billion euros and its more than 500,000 customers are serviced via a local network of 80 business outlets.

Tatra banka a.s., the third-largest bank in Slovakia, increased its balance-sheet total
by 15 per cent to 7 billion euros in first three quarters of 2007. The bank steers 150 business outlets and services more than 680,000 customers.

*****

Raiffeisen International operates one of the largest banking networks in CEE. 17 markets of Europe's growth region are covered by subsidiary banks, finance leasing companies, a representative office and a number of other financial service providers. Over 13 million customers are attended to through more than 3,000 business outlets. Raiffeisen International is a fully consolidated subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB), which owns 68.5 per cent of the common stock. The balance is free float, the shares are traded 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.

For further information please contact Michael Palzer (+43-1-717 07-1504, ) or Lars D. Hofer (+43-1-71 707-1930, ).

http://www.ri.co.at, http://www.rzb.at

Basic information about Raiffeisenbank a.s. and eBanka, a.s.

Raiffeisenbank a.s. (RBCZ) has been providing a wide range of banking services in the Czech Republic to individual as well as corporate clients since 1993. eBanka started its operations in the Czech market in 1998, focusing on quality services with the use of direct banking. The two banks initiated their integration in 2006. Since 2007, selected products are available to the clients in the sales networks of both banks, totalling more than 100 branch offices and client centres.

Both banks confirm their trend of dynamic development and growing profits. Over the first nine months of 2007, Raiffeisenbank increased its net profits in annual comparison by nearly 20 percent to CZK 591.8 million; total assets reached the amount of CZK 114 billion. eBanka’s net profit rose by 173 percent to CZK 169.46 million, total assets of eBanka have reached CZK 23.2 billion.

Various local and international awards confirm the quality of offered services of the two banks. In 2007, Raiffeisenbank was awarded the Most Dynamic Bank in the prestigious MasterCard Bank of the Year contest for the second consecutive time. It has also won the third place in the main category of the Bank of the Year. eBanka regularly achieves awards for the best account and ranked third in this category in 2007. In the Zlatá koruna 2007 competition, eBanka has won the first place in the category of payment cards for the payment card locking service and eBanka’s internet banking has won in its category as well.

The majority shareholder of the two banks is the Austrian financial institution Raiffeisen International Bank Holding AG. In 16 markets of Central and Eastern Europe, Raiffeisen International serves over 13 million clients at 3,000 sales points. Since 2005, the group’s shares have been quoted at the Vienna Stock Exchange. The majority shareholder is RZB Group with 68.5 percent; the remaining part is traded freely on the stock exchange.

In July 2007, Raiffeisen International received Euromoney’s Best Bank in Central and Eastern Europe award for the third consecutive time. In addition, the network’s banks received awards for the best banks in five countries of the region. The company also received the Best Bank in Central and Eastern Europe awards from the Global Finance and The Banker magazines.

Raiffeisenbank a.s. · Olbrachtova 9 · 140 21, Praha 4, Czech Republic

Tel.: 221 141 170 · Fax: 221 142 170

Internet: http://www.rb.cz · E-mail: