Tinkoff Appoints George Chesakov VP of Channel Dev

Tinkoff Bank appoints George Chesakov as Vice President of New Channel Development

Moscow, Russia - 28 January 2016. TCS Group Holding PLC (TCS LI) (the "Group"), Russia's leading provider of online retail financial services, including Tinkoff Bank and Tinkoff Insurance, is pleased to announce the appointment of George Chesakov as Vice President of New Channel Development at Tinkoff Bank, effective as of 1 February 2016.

At Tinkoff Bank, George Chesakov will be responsible for the expansion of its loan product portfolio, margin improvement across all existing business lines, the development of new customer acquisition channels, as well as the development and launch of new products and solutions as part of Tinkoff Bank's strategic move to become a financial marketplace, offering both own brand and partner products through its online platform.

Oleg Tinkov, the founder of Tinkoff Bank, said: "As Tinkoff Bank is evolving to become a financial marketplace, we have various challenges to address which require additional expertise. I am glad to welcome George back to the team. He had previously helped lay a strong foundation for Tinkoff Bank's success back in 2006 and is currently one of the leading experts in the financial market in Russia. I believe, George will support us in further strengthening our leading online offering in the financial services market, as well as in increasing value for our shareholders during this crucial period."

George Chesakov commented: "Despite Russia's current economic environment, I believe, there are still many opportunities and new niches to be explored by Tinkoff Bank, as a leading provider of online retail financial services in the market. I am happy to re-join the team who were able to build the most technologically advanced online bank in Russia. I believe that together with the Bank's management team we can achieve the most ambitious goals set by our shareholders and further strengthen Tinkoff Bank's position in the market."

George Chesakov has an extensive track record in retail and finance. From 2013 to 2015, Mr Chesakov served as President at OTP Bank, where he considerably improved its financials and increased its market share in Russia's retail lending market. From 2012 to 2013, he developed a number of financial and banking startups in Russia, including being a co-founder of Revo Technology. In 2006, Mr Chesakov joined Tinkoff Bank as one of the founding members of the team, where he served as COO and Chairman of the Management Board until 2011. Prior to that, he was responsible for developing the credit card and retail lending business of Investsberbank (acquired by the OTP Group in 2006). From 2001 to 2003, he was responsible for the loan product development at Russian Standard Bank. Early in his career Mr Chesakov was developing BP's service stations network before joining McKinsey & Company.

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About the Group

TCS Group Holding PLC is an innovative provider of online retail financial services, operating in Russia through a high-tech branchless platform. In order to support its branchless platform, the Group has also developed a "smart courier" network covering almost 600 cities and towns in Russia which allows next day delivery to many customers.

Tinkoff Bank's product range includes credit, debit and prepaid cards, deposits, co-branded cards, and agent-based mortgage products. With its special focus on mobile business, the bank offers mobile applications both for its customer base (Mobile Bank) and beyond it (Traffic Fines, MoneyTalk, Card 2 Card instant money transfers).

As per its five-year strategy, the Group has the ambition to become a financial marketplace, offering both own brand and partner products.

As at 1 November 2015, the bank was the second largest player in the Russian credit card market, with a market share of 7.7%. As at 1 December 2015, the bank issued over 5.4 m credit cards. The bank is well capitalised: its CBR N1 total capital ratio stood at 13% as at 1 December 2015.

The 9M 2015 IFRS net income of the Group amounted to RUB 0.9 bn.

In 2013, Tinkoff Bank was recognised as the Bank of the Year and the most profitable bank in Russia by The Banker magazine, the world's premier banking and finance resource, published by the Financial Times Group. In 2015, the Global Finance magazine named Tinkoff Bank as the Best Internet Retail Bank in Russia.

Forward-looking statements

Some of the information in this announcement may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the Group and Tinkoff Bank. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "will", "could," "may" or "might", the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. The Group and Tinkoff Bank wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. The Group and Tinkoff Bank do not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements of the Group and Tinkoff Bank, including, among others, general economic conditions, the competitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid technological and market change in the industries the Group operates in, as well as many other risks specifically related to the Group, Tinkoff Bank and their respective operations.