The 17th European Banking Financial Forum dedicated to finding solutions to the ongoing financial crisis took place in Prague, the Czech Republic, on March 24-26, 2009. The Forum comprised the traditional ‘Russian sessions’ devoted to West-East and East-West investments.

On the first day of the forum, URSA Bank’s Deputy GD Vladimir Mekhryakov made a report on MDM-Bank and URSA Bank’s merger as a way to creating Russia’s leading all-purpose bank. He spoke about the strategic reasons for the merger and walked the audience through the structure of the transaction.

‘The current circumstances are a challenge and a chance for the banks to expand their business and make it more trouble-resistant,’ Vladimir Mekhryakov said.

The Forum was also attended by the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, and Europe’s central banks’ top executives. As for the Russian participants, Gazprom’s Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev, State Duma Deputy Anatoly Aksakov, and heads of major businesses and financial institutions came to take part in the event.