Hansapank                     NEWS RELEASE                04/29/2004 12:45



NEW HEAD OF RUSSIAN OPERATIONS IS DRUVIS MURMANIS



Today Druvis Murmanis, current head of Latvian corporate banking

division was appointed as the new head of Hansabank Group’s Russian

operations. The CFO of the Russian business unit will be Lauri

Reinberg, who is currently the Group’s chief controller.



The Chairman of the Board, Indrek Neivelt said that Hansabank’s

Russian strategy has reached a stage where it is difficult to manage

local operations from a distance. "We are providing trade financing

services in Russia and during the past year have also grown a

substantial leasing portfolio. As a next step we are also planning on

launching banking operations. I believe that with this in mind Druvis’

candidacy is the best possible. Druvis is highly respected both, among

his colleagues as well as clients. Considering that our Russian

strategy is focusing on serving corporate customers, he is clearly the

best candidate to run our Group’s Russian operations," said Neivelt.



The new head of the Latvian corporate banking division and member of

the board of Hansabanka will be Maris Mancinskis, who is currently the

head of Hansabanka Markets in Latvia.





Mart Tõevere

Head of Communications and IR

+372 6131 569