ZAO BANCA INTESA (INTESA SANPAOLO GROUP) IS PROMOTING AN IMPORTANT CULTURAL EVENT BY BRINGING LA SCALA THEATRE’S ACADEMY ORCHESTRA TO THE BOLSHOI.

THIS EVENT – WHICH HAS BEEN ORGANISED THANKS TO THE CONSOLIDATED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INTESA SANPAOLO GROUP, LA SCALA THEATRE AND RUSSIA, COINCIDES WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE REBRANDING OF ZAO BANCA INTESA

Moscow, 24 June 2010 – Zao Banca Intesa, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group bank set up this year from the merger of KMB Bank with Zao Banca Intesa, has promoted an important event in conjunction with La Scala Theatre: La Scala’s Academy Orchestra is set to play today on the Bolshoi Theatre’s New Stage.

The Academy Orchestra, composed of 65 musicians and four singers, will be directed by Maestro Marco Guidarini, and will be playing a programme of arias taken from Verdi’s operas, together with Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Symphony No. 4, the “Italian”.
“Cooperation between Intesa Sanpaolo and La Scala Theatre, which has been ongoing for some ten years now, represents a successful relationship between two great institutions, each capable of expressing a national and international calling within its own field” remarked Giovanni Bazoli, Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Supervisory Board. “This is a partnership based firmly on both parties’ mutual respect for each other’s role, and on the constant search for ways of rendering music part of Man’s universal heritage, for civic, humanitarian and social purposes”, he concluded.
“It is a great honour to be able to announce this new project” the Chairman of Zao Banca Intesa, Antonio Fallico, announced today at the Bolshoi Theatre: “a project that represents a continuation of the by now consolidated relations between the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, La Scala Theatre and Russia.” “La Scala”, he added, “is a recognised symbol of excellence and prestige not only within Italy, but throughout the world, something which we are all extremely proud of”.
The event coincides with the launch of Zao Banca Intesa’s rebranding covering the entire network, and it will be followed by a second concert scheduled for the 26th June, to be held at St. Petersburg’s Philharmonia.
Cooperation between Italy and Russia, and close cultural exchanges between the bank, the theatre and the Russian world, date back some years: one of the most important events was the evening organised in October 2001, in conjunction with the Italian Embassy on occasion of the year of celebrations for Giuseppe Verdi, featuring a performance of Verdi’s Requiem by La Scala Theatre’s Choir and Orchestra directed by Maestro Riccardo Muti.
This cooperation will continue in the near future with the stipulation of a Protocol for Cultural Exchange between La Scala Theatre and the Bolshoi Theatre, on occasion of the inaugural re-opening of the prestigious Moscow theatre following recent restoration work, running from November 2011 to 2013. Intesa Sanpaolo is going to partner La Scala in providing support for those events scheduled to be held in Moscow.
In particular, in 2011 – the year of Italian culture in Russia and of Russian culture in Italy – the Scala’s Choir and Orchestra, directed by Daniel Barenboim, will be performing Verdi’s Requiem.
 

 

THE INTESA SANPAOLO GROUP AND RUSSIA

The Intesa Sanpaolo Group has been operating in Russia for over 30 years now, where it has been a key player in a number of important economic and financial ventures related to trade between the two countries, as well as of a broad programme of cultural and scientific exchange.

Intesa Sanpaolo also has its own Representative Office in Moscow, which provides Italian, Russian and international companies with assistance and advice in relation to their business, industrial and investment activities in Russia, in Italy and in all those other countries where the Group is present in the form of its subsidiaries.

Zao Banca Intesa, the Group’s Russian subsidiary, was formed this year as the result of a merger between KMB Bank and Zao Banca Intesa, and is one of the country’s leading regional banks.

It operates in the retail, corporate and investment banking sectors, thanks to a network of 79 branches distributed over 25 different Russian regions, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.

Zao Banca Intesa’s business activities are mainly geared towards families and towards those Russian, Italian and international enterprises operating within the Russian Federation, where it provides them with support in starting up and developing manufacturing and commercial projects.

The Bank also aims to promote trade and investment exchanges between Italy and Russia through the provision of a full range of commercial and financial services to its customers.

Rebranding activities represent a further step towards strengthening the bank’s presence in the Russian market, together with the managerial optimisation of existing structures, the synergies resulting from integration, and the improved quality and choice of services provided to all market segments.

The Russian banking market is constantly growing both in terms of business volumes – mainly as a result of increased levels of consumption – and from the structural point of view, thanks, among other things, to the arrival of foreign investors.

Zao Banca Intesa is not only developing its retail and corporate trade further, but it also plans to focus more closely on the SME segment of the economy (which accounts for 12% of the country’s GDP), where its 12 years of experience have enabled it to attain the position of market leader. 
 

THE INTESA SANPAOLO GROUP

The Intesa Sanpaolo banking group is the result of the merger between Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI. A market leader in Italy, thanks to a distribution network that is second to none, Intesa Sanpaolo boasts a strong international presence in central-eastern Europe and the Mediterranean area, where it has some 1,850 branches and 8.5 million customers. It also possesses an international network, covering some 34 different countries, specialised in providing support to the Group’s corporate customers.

The Group represents the union of two leading Italian banks with shared values, who have chosen to come together in order to grow, to better serve those families that bank with it, and to further contribute towards the development of businesses and the growth of the country as a whole.  
 

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