Press Information
Aareal Bank sponsors “Petersburger Dialog”
The Bank focuses on Central and Eastern European growth markets
Wiesbaden, 11 October 2007 – Aareal Bank AG is sponsoring this year for the first time the seventh “Petersburger Dialog”, which will be held from 13 to 15 October in Wiesbaden, where the bank has its corporate headquarters. The German- Russian conference with high-ranking participants will be held under the patronage of Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the Russian President Vladimir Putin. In this way Aareal Bank is emphasising the significance of its business commitment to Central and Eastern Europe.
Aareal Bank is one of the leading providers of property finance in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). For its business success the Bank was awarded the CEE Real Estate Quality Award with the distinction of “best real estate bank in Central and Eastern Europe“ in 2004 and 2006. In 2006, Aareal Bank generated a total of 1.2 bn. € or approx. 13 percent of its new international business in the CEE states.
“Given our many years of business activity in Central and Eastern Europe, it is a matter of particular concern for Aareal Bank to champion the development of social and economic ties between the Russians and the Germans“, Dr. Wolf Schumacher, Chairman of the Management Board of Aareal Bank explained. “We continue to regard Central and Eastern European property markets as having strong growth potential“, Schumacher continued.
According to calculations by CB Richard Ellis, direct investment in commercial property in Central and Eastern Europe has risen significantly from 5.8 bn. € in 2005 to 12.7 bn. €. The Russian property market alone accounted for a third of this figure.
Aareal Bank
Aareal Bank AG is one of the leading international property specialists listed in Deutsche Börse’s MDAX index. The bank is active across three continents. Based on its successful European business model, Aareal Bank has developed a similar platform in North America and Asia/Pacific and provides property financing solutions in more than 25 countries. The clients are domestic and international investors.