July 3, 2007

Hong Kong (China), 3 June 2007. — The MICEX and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd., comprised of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Hong Kong Futures Exchange and the Hong Kong Clearing House, have agreed to cooperate in developing exchange-based markets. Today, in Hong Kong, the MICEX President Alexander Potemkin and CEO of the HKEx Paul Chow have signed a memorandum of understanding. The memorandum lays the foundation for the development of close cooperation between the two exchanges, which includes exchange of experience and information on the implementation of new exchange products, the development of technologies and the organization of exchange-based markets. The parties believe that their cooperation will contribute to the development of both countries’ capital markets and help to improve the competitiveness of the two exchanges in the context of globalization of financial markets.

According to the MICEX President Alexander Potemkin, the signing of the memorandum must attract Asian investors to the Russian stock market. This year the share of foreign investors’ transactions in the volume of trading in stocks on the MICEX Stock Exchange has exceeded 25%, and the interest of Asian investors keeps growing.

At present the MICEX is actively developing the stock and the derivatives markets and improving the quality of its clearing services. The MICEX experts study the most valuable international experience gained in these areas. This is why the MICEX finds the Hong Kong Exchange’s expertise in managing the exchange infrastructure especially important, as the HKEx is one of the world’s most developed integrated holdings dealing with different market sectors and types of exchange services.

HKEx Chief Executive Paul Chow called the Memorandum of understanding a new step in the development of relations between the Hong Kong Exchange and the largest exchange in Eastern Europe and the CIS. The agreement, which provides for exchange of information on the state of markets, will enable to intensify the development of the two regions by using the advantages of dual listing and increasing the volumes of mutual investments.

At the signing ceremony the parties noted that the agreement is of mutual benefit for both sides, as it reflects the growing interest of the Hong Kong Exchange in attracting Russian issuers to one of the leading financial markets in Asia, while the MICEX is interested in attracting Asian investors to Russia’s internal stock market. International financial centers show growing interest in stocks of Russia’s leading companies. This is why the HKEx is preparing amendments to its listing rules which will enable to list depositary receipts for Russian companies’ stocks in the course of an IPO in the same way it is done on West European and US capital markets.