February 21, 2005

Under the MICEX program to develop the exchange market of the euro, the MICEX has launched trades in futures on the exchange rate of the euro to the US dollar in its Derivatives Market (Standard Contracts) Section. According to the MICEX CEO Alexander Potemkin, banks √participants in trades on the MICEX √ are expected to buy contracts on the exchange rate of the euro for clients interested in hedging their currency risks, which arise when trading with countries comprising the euro zone. By analogy with ruble/US dollar futures, the MICEX puts into circulation euro/US dollar futures with days of execution falling on the next six months as well as two subsequent months √ at the end of quarters (March, June, September, December).

Thus, at present, the following series of euro/US dollar futures circulate in the MICEX derivatives market:

Instrument	Month of execution	Price change limit (euro/$1)	Deposit margin rate (rubles per one contract)
FSEURUSDCB53	March	0.025	1500
FSEURUSDCB54	April	0.028	1680
FSEURUSDCB55	May	0.031	1860
FSEURUSDCB56	June	0.034	2040
FSEURUSDCB57	July	0.037	2220
FSEURUSDCB58	August	0.040	2400
FSEURUSDCB59	September	0.043	2580
FSEURUSDCB5C	December	0.052	3120

Main parameters of futures on the exchange rate of the euro to the US dollar:

• Underlying asset: the exchange rate of the euro to the US dollar set by the European Central Bank (in US dollars per one euro);
• Face value of contract: 30 000 rubles;
• Time of execution: the 15th day of the respective month;
• Method of execution: transfer of the variation margin without the delivery of the underlying asset;
• Commission: 0.50 rubles/contract.

Over the last two years, participants have displayed growing interest in the MICEX market of currency futures. As a result, the liquidity of the market is growing. The increased volatility of the dollar boosts turnovers in this segment of the market. Since the beginning of 2005, the turnover has exceeded 326 million US dollars, which makes up about 70% of the turnover of 2004. On 18 February2005, the volume of open positions in the MICEX Derivatives Market (Standard Contracts) Section in futures on the US dollar reached 308 400 contracts (308.4 million US dollars. This exceeds more than 2 times the number of open positions at the end of 2004.

The MICEX focuses its efforts on widening the range of traded instruments, attracting new participants and improving the system of risk management.

Since the beginning of 2005, two more organizations have become members of the MICEX Derivatives Market (Standard Contracts) Section:

• Rusich Tsentr Bank: as an associated clearing member;
• Rosprombank: as a general clearing member.

At present, 158 banks and companies are members of the MICEX Derivatives Market (Standard Contracts) Section.