AS HANSAPANK             RELEASE              18.02.05



Russian Central Bank approves Kvest bank acquisition



Hansabank received an approval from the Russian Central Bank for the

acquisition of Kvest bank. Hansabank has now received approvals from

both, Estonian as well as Russian supervisory authorities. Hansabank

expects to close the transaction during the first quarter of 2005.



Hansabank signed the purchase agreement of Kvest bank on 24 September

2004. Kvest bank is focussed on serving corporate customers in the

Moscow region. The bank’s total assets amounted to EUR 2.2 million and

shareholders’ equity to EUR 1.3 million on 30 June 2004. After closing

the Group will increase the bank’s share capital to EUR 81 million.



Hansabank Group expanded to the Russian market in 2002. According to

the strategy approved in 2004, the Group will operate in the Moscow,

St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad regions and focus on serving its

Baltic, Scandinavian and Russian corporate clients.



Additional information:

Druvis Murmanis

Managing Director, Russian operations

Tel. +7 095 781 2225





Mart Tõevere

Head of Corporate Communications and IR

Tel. +372 6131 569