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UniCredit brings the UEFA Champions League Trophy back to Italy

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UniCredit brings the UEFA Champions League Trophy back to Italy

In the fourth year of its tour, the most highly valued trophy of European football will be hosted by nine Italian cities;

Bulgaria was one of the first five countries where the Trophy was presented back in 2009.

UniCredit brings the UEFA Champions League Trophy back to Italy in the fourth year of the tour of the most highly valued European trophy. The UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour, presented by UniCredit, started in 2009 when the European banking group commenced its partnership with UEFA.

In the first year of the Tour the trophy was also brought to Bulgaria at the end of September when for a few days around 25 thousand football fans had their picture taken with the trophy.

The UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour not only marks the beginning of the UEFA Champions League season 2012/2013 but it also initiates a new sponsorship cycle 2012-2015 which heralds thestart of newly negotiated rights for UniCredit. Among others, the right to use the new designation “Official Bank of the UEFA Champions League” creates a close link between the sponsorship and UniCredit’s core business as a financial institution. So does the newly negotiated right to produce the “Official UEFA Champions League Match Coin provided by UniCredit” which can be used by the referee for the official coin toss before every match.

Until October 22nd nine cities will host the UEFA Champions League TrophyTour, starting with Milan in Piazza del Duomo and with a grand finale in Rome. Football fans will have the chanceto take a picture with the trophy and meet famous football players.

On its way to the final destination in Rome (October 19th -22nd), the red Trophy Tour show truck will stop in Turin, Bologna, Palermo and Naples where a free-of-charge exhibition opens its doors to the public to present the most sought-after trophy, embedded in the fascinating world ofEurope’s most prestigious club football competition.

Stop-over events, offering the possibility to the public to take a personal picture with the trophy, will take place in Verona, Venice and Florence.

With this year’s eye-catching stadium look of the exhibition, the UniCredit Arena, the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour has an interesting program to offer: highlights for all football fans include the chance to take a picture with the trophy, available online afterwards, as well as to get an autograph from famousfootball ambassadors such as Cafu, Luís Figo and Ruud Gullit.

“We decided to bring again the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour in Italy as it is a strategiccountry for our Group with more than 45% of our business activities” – says Paolo Fiorentino,UniCredit Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer. It’s not an everyday event to see the trophy in the main square of your town, with the chance to take a picture with it. After touring across Europe in the previous years, we are now bringing back theTour in Italy, one of the most successful football nations in the UEFA Champions League, with a strong sponsorship awareness among viewers. In this way we are bringing the trophy to thepeople making our brand more visible”.

Luís Figo, UniCredit Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour in Milan, who will be part of the tour for the fourth time states, “The Trophy Tour is the top of the top, it brings back good memories and emotions. It is a magical event and I’m excited to be part of it again this year”.

David Taylor, CEO of UEFA Events SA says: “The UEFA Champions League has a long and distinguished heritage and is the pinnacle of European club football. Italian clubs, coaches andplayers have played a huge part in building that heritage and the trophy itself represents the ultimate prize of the competition. By taking the trophy with UniCredit to a number of Italian cities, Italian football fans will have the chance to spend an unforgettable moment with the trophy and dream of future success.”

Having visited 48 cities in 13 countries between 2009 and 2011, the annual UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour has become one of the most important sponsorship assets for UniCredit, bringing the trophy and the football spirit of the UEFA Champions League to over 320,000 footballfans across Europe. With this year’s Tour UniCredit aims at surpassing last years results for contacts, highlighting the success of its engagement within the UEFA Champions League.

More information about the official sponsorship is available at unicredit.eu/champions and facebook.com/UniCreditChampions

UniCredit

UniCredit is a major international financial institution with strong roots in 22 European countries and an overall international network present in approximately 50 markets, 9,400 branches and 158,000 employees as of June 2012.

In the CEE region, UniCredit operates the largest international banking network with nearly 3,800 branches. The Group operates in the following countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, CzechRepublic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia,Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.

More information for media:

UniCredit Bulbank, Identity & Communications Department

Viktoria Blajeva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Magdalena Ivanova, Phone: + 359 2 9232 528, nbhebmfob/jwbopwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch