Herbert Stepic, CEO of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG and Deputy CEO Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB), will have his 60th birthday on Sunday, December 31, 2006.

"Without the pioneering spirit of Herbert Stepic, both RZB Group as well as Raiffeisen International would not have become what they are today: A leading banking group in Central and Eastern Europe and an acknowledged brand in the international financial world. He has developed and coined the international business of the group and we are proud of the fact, that he is known as "Mr. Eastern Europe" far beyond the Austrian borders. I am particularly delighted by the fact that his drive is unchecked and that we still have plenty of plans together," said Walter Rothensteiner, Supervisory Board President of Raiffeisen International and CEO of RZB.

Herbert Stepic looks back on more than 30 successful years in banking. After completing his doctoral degree at the Hochschule für Welthandel in Vienna, Stepic entered Genossenschaftliche Zentralbank (GZB) in 1973. During the first years Stepic built up the Department of Foreign Trade at GZB, at the same time being Managing Director of the bank’s international trading house F.J. Elsner. Starting in 1978 Stepic developed the international correspondent banking network of GZB contributing significantly to the internationalization of the bank. In 1987 Stepic was appointed Member of the Managing Board of GZB, which was renamed to Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB) in 1989. From this moment on he primarily focused on developing the Central and Eastern European network presence, which had its start in Hungary in 1986. Over time this has grown to become today’s Raiffeisen International. Stepic was appointed Deputy CEO of RZB in 1995 and CEO of Raiffeisen International in 2001. One highlight of his career was the Initial Public Offering of Raiffeisen International at the Vienna Stock Exchange in 2005, which became the most successful in the history of the Austrian stock exchanges and drew international attention. Since then the share price and market capitalisation have more than tripled. The group ranks among the global 500 most valuable stock-listed companies. Among many other personal awards and decorations, Stepic was selected as Manager of the Year 2005 from the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna University for Economics and Business Administration) and the business magazine trend distinguished him as Man of the Year in December 2005.

Stepic is married and has two sons.

A printable picture of Herbert Stepic can be downloaded at: http://www.rzbfiles.at/herbertstepic.jpg

Raiffeisen International operates one of the leading banking networks in CEE with subsidiary banks and leasing companies in 16 markets. More than 11.7 million customers are attended to through more than 2,775 business outlets. In eight markets, the respective Network Bank ranks among the three largest local banks. Representative offices in Lithuania and Moldova complement the Group's presence in the region. Raiffeisen International is a fully consolidated subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB), which owns 70 per cent of the common stock. The remaining 30 per cent 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.

Raiffeisen International's balance-sheet total amounted to € 50.3 billion at the end of the third quarter 2006 (plus 24 per cent compared with year-end 2005). Consolidated profit (after minorities) increased by 93 per cent to € 539 million, compared with the same period of 2005 (including the one-off effect related to the sale of the minority stake in Kazakh Bank TuranAlem).