Statement from the Bank of Slovenia of 14 December 2009

The Bank of Slovenia is carefully monitoring events linked to the Austrian group, Hypo Group Alpe Adria, and welcomes the Austrian government's decision to assume 100% ownership. Today's decision regarding the change in ownership and additional liquidity support provides for the future stability of the banking group, additional liquidity and the normalisation of operations.

The position of the subsidiary bank, Hypo Alpe Adria Bank d.d., Ljubljana, (hereinafter: HAAB), has not changed as a result of the change in ownership. HAAB is a part of the Slovenian banking system and is supervised by the Bank of Slovenia. The bank's operations are in line with expectations and do not deviate from established practices. In the scope of the guarantee scheme, all deposits at the bank are secured in an unlimited amount, in accordance with the Slovenian government's decision from October 2008.