Institutional Investor Magazine Ranks Russia's No. 1 Business Leaders

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - June 19, 2008) - Institutional Investor's annual survey of Russia's top business leaders shows that although the executives come from different backgrounds and are pursuing different strategies, they have one common denominator: very strong growth.

Earnings at eight companies overseen by the top-ranked CEOs jumped by an average of 39 percent in 2007. And far from being a mere byproduct of sky-high energy prices or monopoly positions, profit growth is strongest in consumer-oriented sectors where competition is the greatest.

"Five years ago, Russia was a value play," says Kevin Dougherty, a portfolio manager at Moscow-based Pharos Capital. "Now there are very few companies that don't have rapid growth as part of their strategy."

The survey ranks business leaders in eight sectors: Consumer, Financial Services, Industrials, Metals & Mining, Oil & Gas, Real Estate, Telecommunications, and Utilities. This is the first year the survey includes the Real Estate sector.

Russia's Top Business Leaders:

Sector                         Company                 Name
------                         -------                 ----
Consumer                       X5 Retail Group         Lev Khasis
Financial Services             Sberbank                German Gref
Industrials                    Severstal-Auto          Vadim Shvetsov
Metals & Mining                Magnitogorsk Iron       Victor Rashnikov
                               and Steel Works
Oil & Gas                      Gazprom                 Alexey Miller
Real Estate                    Open Investments        Sergey Bachin
Telecommunications             VimpelCommunications    Alexander Izosimov
Utilities                      Unified Energy System   Anatoly Chubais
                               of Russia

The complete survey results including who placed second and third, are available today on at www.iimagazine.com and in the June 2008 international edition of the magazine.

Institutional Investor's fifth annual Russia's Top Business Leaders were chosen by a survey of analysts and fund managers at some 230 institutions managing an estimated $108 billion in Russian assets.

Contact Information: Contact: Chris Cavanagh 212-224-3369 chriscavanagh@iimagazine.com