The event was attended by the bank's employees, shareholders, as well as by customers, friends and partners of the bank. Among the guests were Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel and Minister of the Economy Etienne Schneider, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg Fernand Etgen, Luxembourg Ambassador to Russia Jean-Claude Knebeler, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSFC Sistema Vladimir Evtushenkov, heads of Luxembourg financial organisations and directors of major companies.

East-West United Bank is a Luxembourgish bank with Russian shareholders and international customers. The bank’s mission is to help establish business and cultural dialogue between the East and the West.

To celebrate the birthday, the bank invited to Luxembourg the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by maestro Valery Gergiev. The orchestra is considered to be one of the best in the world. The concert, which also marked the opening of the music season for the Philharmonie of Luxembourg, became the key event of the evening dedicated to the anniversary of the bank.

Following the outstanding musical performance, Jeannot Krecké, former Minister for the Economy and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg, and, currently, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, opened the gala reception with the speech. He congratulated the management and employees with the anniversary and thanked everyone for their trust in the bank. “East-West United Bank has come a long way over the past 45 years and has become a truly market oriented bank with a wide range of products and professional management. The bank grew and developed along with the economy of Luxembourg and all that was achieved so far is only the beginning of a long road ahead.”

Then the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, also delivered a congratulatory speech. He noted that dialogue and building relations are very important in the modern world, and East-West United Bank, the very name of which reflects the mission of the unity, is a good example of Luxembourg's cooperation with Russia.

At the reception, in addition to the bank’s anniversary, another significant event was celebrated – immediately prior to the concert, the PJSFC Sistema Chairman of the Board, Vladimir Evtushenkov was awarded with the National Order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – Ordre de la Couronne de Chêne.

The decision to appoint Vladimir Evtushenkov as the Commander of the Ordre de la Couronne de Chêne was made by the Head of State, Grand Duke Henri, following the proposal of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg. The award reflected active and long-term participation of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sistema in development of economic and cultural ties between Luxembourg and the Russian Federation. Since 2009, Vladimir Evtushenkov has been Honourary Consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in two regions of Russia – the Sverdlovsk region and the Khabarovsk territory.

“It is a great honour for me to receive this high state award of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with whom we have long and reliable partnership. We are grateful to His Royal Highness and the Government of Luxembourg for their continued trust and support. From our side, we are ready to make every effort to further expand business activity and implement joint cultural projects in the interests of strengthening friendship between Russia and Luxembourg,” said Vladimir Evtushenkov at the award ceremony. At the reception, Vladimir Evtushenkov made a memorable gift to East-West United Bank – a painting of a St. Petersburg artist. The painting will complement the bank’s art collection in the office at Villa Foch.

The celebration involved not only the invitees of East-West United Bank. All the guests of the Philharmonie that evening were greeted with a red carpet at the entrance, memorable photos and welcome glasses of a Luxembourg cremant. Thanks to the bank, at the opening of the music season of the Philharmonie, everyone could feel like a star.

During the evening, East-West United Bank, following its principle of “building bridges, not walls”, erected another bridge of more than 2 thousand kilometers long between Luxembourg and Russia. The atmosphere on this bridge was filled with music and applause of the guests, discussions of business prospects and friendly conversations.

East-West United Bank is a bridge between the East and the West.