EESTI ÜHISPANK

ANNOUNCEMENT



MOODY'S UPGRADES DEPOSIT RATINGS OF EESTI ÜHISPANK



Moody's Investors Service today raised the long-term deposit ratings of

Eesti Ühispank to Baa2. Moody's said that its decision to upgrade 

Ühispank's long term deposit ratings from Baa3 to Baa2 reflects the increased

probability of support from the majority shareholder, SEB, rated A2/Prime-1

by Moody's. This reflects the increase of SEB's stake in Ühispank to over

50% in October 1999, but also SEB's increasing commitment to its Baltic

strategy. 



Moody's stressed that the decision to upgrade Ühispank reflects more than

SEB's increased stake in the bank, namely, its greater involvement in the

strategic planning of the bank as well as its deployment of human and other

resources aimed at enhancing Ühispank's franchise.



As of 14 March, Eesti Ühispank's ratings are as follows: 



Moody's

Long term foreign

currency deposit rating 		Baa2 	(upgraded from Baa3)



Short-term foreign

currency deposit rating 		Prime-3



Financial

Strength Rating 			D+ 



All ratings have a stable outlook



Fitch IBCA

Long-term rating 			BBB 		(upgraded from BBB-)

Short-term rating 			F3

Individual rating			C/D		(upgraded from D)

Support rating 				3		(upgraded from 4)



Thomson Financial BankWatch

Intra-Country Issuer rating		A/B  		(upgraded from B/C)

Short-term debt rating			LC-1		



FURTHER INFORMATION: 



Margus Schults

Vice President

Eesti Ühispank

Tel:+372 66 56 600





Urmas Neetar

head of reporting dept.

6 656 390