During His Visit to Ukraine, Steve Ballmer Named SoftServe, Inc. among Reliable Partners

Microsoft CEO visited Kyiv on May 20, 2008 and at the meeting with key partners and clients pointed out SoftServe as one of Microsoft's reliable partners in Ukraine.

Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer visited Ukraine to make a series of announcements and to address leaders of key public and commercial institutions. Ballmer met with key partners, customers and employees of Microsoft Ukraine and opened the company's new office facilities in Kyiv.

Ukraine is one of five countries on Ballmer's tour across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) from 19-23 May. This first-ever extensive CEE tour clearly demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to one of the most dynamic regions in the world in terms of economic and IT growth.

"The CEE region is Microsoft's fastest-growing market, and the Ukraine IT sector in particular is seeing strong expansion. Microsoft is committed to contributing to Ukraine's ongoing transition to a knowledge economy, and to helping government, business, and society use the power of information technology to create sustainable economic progress," said Ballmer during his visit.

According to IDC, in 2007 Ukraine outstripped other CEE countries with the highest IT industry growth rates. With almost 40 per cent growth and over $3.4 billion in volume, the Ukrainian IT market ranks fourth after Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic. "This rapid growth explains the interest in the Ukrainian market of such global IT leaders as Microsoft, which ultimately enhances our integration into the global IT community," noted Volodymyr Pozdnyakov, regional manager and head of IDC in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

At the ceremony of signing the agreement on opening a Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) based at Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, Ballmer noted: "Microsoft's success depends on partnerships with other software companies, and we have more than 250,000 business partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa." At the meeting with key partners and customers, Microsoft CEO named SoftServe among reliable partners in Ukraine.

"Naturally, we are delighted to receive such recognition from the head of Microsoft. We hope that our profound relationship with Microsoft will continue to strengthen based of trust and mutual advantage," says Taras Kytsmey, Chief Executive Officer of SoftServe. "We pride ourselves on delivering significant business value to our clients worldwide and it is gratifying that this tacit acknowledgement from Steve Ballmer confirms our exceptional reliability and top-notch technical proficiency."

Based on Microsoft EMEA Press center information

About Microsoft Ukraine

In 2003 Microsoft opened a regional office in Ukraine aimed at developing the software market, promoting Microsoft products, and providing partner and customer support, as well as introducing and localizing the newest technologies and implementing social initiatives in Ukraine and Belarus.

For more information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft web pages at http://www.microsoft.ua (in Ukrainian) and http://www.microsoft.com (in English).

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Microsoft PR Contacts

Sergiy Kadulin, Marketing Director, Microsoft Ukraine
Phone: +380 (44) 496 0310
E-mail: Sergiy.Kadulin@microsoft.com

Julia Gumenyak, Senior Project Manager, PRP Ukraine
Phone: +380 (44) 495 2960
Fax: +380 (44) 495 2961
E-mail: jgumenyak@prp.com.ua