Hansapank                     NEWS RELEASE                09/24/2004 14:50



HANSABANK TO BUY RUSSIAN KVEST BANK



On 24 September Hansabank signed a purchase agreement of the Russian

Kvest bank in Moscow. Hansabank will pay approximately 3.4 million US

dollars (2.8 million euros) for 100% of the bank's shares; the exact

price will be determined upon closing of the deal.

Closing of the transaction is subject to receiving regulatory

approvals from the Russian Central Bank and the Estonian Financial

Supervision.



Indrek Neivelt, CEO, Hansabank Group: "This is an important strategic

step for Hansabank Group. We are a rapidly developing organisation and

see many growth opportunities in the Russian financial sector. We

analysed different alternatives and decided that an acquisition of an

existing bank would be the least time consuming and an effective way

for entering the Russian banking market. The closing of the

transaction should take place in the first quarter of 2005 after which

we can start operating under our own name on the Russian banking

market."



Druvis Murmanis, Managing Director, Russia: "Our leasing activities

have been very successful in Russia, but we want to be the main

partner for our customers in other financial services as well. The

acquisition of Kvest bank enables us to provide our customers with the

complete range of financial services in Russia." One of the first

tasks will be the implementation of our technology and product range,

in order to offer our customers the same high-quality service that

they have become used to in our other banks," added Murmanis. In

addition to the Moscow office, Hansabank intends to open offices also

in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad in the near future.



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.



Hansabank (www.hansagroup.com) is the largest financial group in the

Baltic countries. Hansabank is listed on the Tallinn stock exchange;

the largest shareholder Swedish Swedbank owns 60% of the bank.

Hansabank has 6,000 employees and close to 4 million customers,

including 1.2 million e-banking customers. Established in 1991, the

Group today has total assets close to 7 billion euros and controls 1/3

of the Baltic banking market.

In 2002 the Group expanded its operations to Russia, concentrating on

serving the Group's Baltic, Scandinavian and Russian corporate

customers. The Group's Russian credit portfolio amounted to 180

million euros at the end of June 2004. According to Hansabank's

strategy, the Group's Russian business unit should grow to 10% of the

Group's total assets in the medium-term.



Additional information:

Indrek Neivelt

CEO, Hansabank Group

+372 613 1372



Druvis Murmanis

Managing Director, Russia

+ 371 7024 100





Mart Tõevere

Head of Communications and IR

+372 613 1569