The lower outlook reflects the substantial growth of reputational and regulatory risks for Bank VENETS in connection with tax offenses committed by one of the credit institution's shareholders who exerts significant influence on the Bank according to IFRS 28 standards; we tend to believe that the wrongful actions of this shareholder may entail a negative reaction of its clients and partners.

AK&M Rating Agency has revised the outlook to 'negative' regarding the probability of adverse changes for the Bank as relatively high.

The Bank possesses a license to provide banking services involving Russian rubles and foreign currencies (without accepting money deposits from individuals) as of July 30, 2012 and a license to accept ruble-denominated money deposits from individuals as of July 30, 2012. The Bank has been a member of the deposit insurance system since October 14, 2004, registered in the DIS register under no. 77.

Headquartered in Ulyanovsk, the Bank has a branch network in Ulyanovsk and Ulyanovsk region. The bank provides all types of services involving Russian rubles and foreign currencies to legal entities and individuals, lends to private and corporate clients.

AK&M Rating Agency assigned a credit rating to Bank VENETS, JSC for the first time in on November 18, 2010. The last rating action in relation to the Bank was taken on March 18, 2015. All rating action announcements are available on the website akmrating.ru.

The rating is valid until August 2015. AK&M Rating Agency may revise the rating and/or the outlook during this period if circumstances fundamentally influencing the Bank's creditworthiness are revealed.

For calculation purposes, we completely rely on the reliability of information provided by the client. The rationale for AK&M Rating Agency's judgment on the rating may include information acquired from other sources we deem to be reliable; however, the agency does not check the input data exhaustively and disclaims all responsibility for their possible errors.

The rating was assigned based on the Credit Rating Methodology for Banks and their Debt Instrument rev. February 24, 2015

The rating, along with any information and conclusions provided in this press release, only conveys our opinion on the Bank's creditworthiness and shall not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell securities, or to lend funds.

AK&M Rating Agency shall not be held liable for any interpretations, inferences and consequences related to the application of results of the rating estimation procedure by any third parties.

CJSC AK&M Rating Agency is a leading independent national rating agency engaged in rating activities since 1993. CJSC AK&M Rating Agency is accredited by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (order no. 452 as of September 17, 2010) and is on the Central Bank of Russia's Register of Accredited Rating Agencies.

CJSC AK&M Rating Agency

ul. Gubkina 3, Moscow, Russia

www.akmrating.ru

Phone no. (495) 916-70-30, fax no.: (499) 132-69-18.