Poland: Citi Handlowy's Kronenberg Foundation Presents Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award to Ossolineum

Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

Kronenberg Foundation
The Kronenberg Foundation was established in 1996. On behalf of Citi Handlowy, it provides assistance for programs promoting the public good in the following areas: education, local development and preservation of the national heritage. Its activities include, among others, a financial education program for secondary school students called "My Finances," organized in cooperation with the National Bank of Poland and the Junior Achievement Foundation; seminars "Vademecum of the Benefactor." Programs include: Employee Volunteer Program and Students Adopt Museums. Kronenberg Foundation competitions include: Wokulski, Microentrepreneur of the Year, and the Bank Handlowy w Warszawie S.A. Award in the Theory of Economics, which is given for outstanding achievements in the area of economics and finance, as well as the Prof. Aleksander Gieysztor Award, given for outstanding contribution to the preservation of the Polish cultural heritage.


	Printer Friendly Page		FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) March 19, 2008 Poland: Citi Handlowy's Kronenberg Foundation Presents Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award to Ossolineum Warsaw – The Ossolinski National Institute (Ossolineum) in Wroclaw is the winner of the ninth edition of the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award. The award is made by the Kronenberg Foundation operating at Citi Handlowy for outstanding contribution to the preservation of the Polish cultural heritage. The award ceremony was held on March 18, 2008 in the Royal Castle in Warsaw. "Ossolineum is an institution that is deeply embedded in the Polish culture and I am glad that, thanks to the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award, we can express our appreciation for its achievements," said Slawomir Sikora, CEO of Citi Handlowy, when presenting the Award. The jury of the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award recognized the Ossolinski National Institute for collecting and caring for rare books, archival records and other bibliophilic treasures of great importance to the Polish culture for 190 years. The Award was granted following the recovery of the most valuable archival materials which were an integral part of the pre-war collection of the Institute and remained in Ukraine. "In the Ossolinski National Institute we accept the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award made by the Kronenberg Foundation's with great pleasure and gratitude. It is a sign of recognition for the Institute's 190-year service to the Polish science and culture in the difficult 19th century and in the tragic and difficult 20th century. Thanks to wise founders, priceless collections, and hard work of successive generations of employees, Ossolineum is an institution that is treated by Poles as a symbol of a winning battle for the preservation of the national identity," said Adolf Juzwenko, PhD, Director of Ossolineum, at the award ceremony in the Royal Castle. The Foundation called the Ossolinski National Institute was established in 1817 by Józef Maksymilian County Ossolinski (1748-1826), a bibliophile, book collector, and member of many scientific organizations. After the Second World War the Ossolineum was moved to Wroclaw and in 1953 it became an integral part of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). At the beginning of the nineties efforts were made to re-establish the Foundation. The success came in 1995 when the Polish Sejm's act made it possible to gradually restore the original organizational structure of the Institute, i.e., a three-unit structure: the Library, the Museum of the Lubomirski Princes, and the Editorial House. Today, the Ossolinski National Institute has about 1,800,000 items in its collection. These are collections of books, periodicals, manuscripts, maps, seals, medals, numismatic objects, bookplates, photographs, drawings, prints, paintings and documents of social life. In previous years the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award was made to, among others, the Social Committee for Stare Powazki Cemetery, Prof. Tadeusz Chrzanowski – President of the Social Committee for Renovation of Historical Sites in Kraków, Stefan Sutkowski – Director of the Warsaw Chamber Opera, the Society for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Prof. Stanislaw Waltos, Director of the Jagiellonian University Museum and Prof. Kazimierz Piotr Zaleski, Director of the Polish Library in Paris. The Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award has been given by the Kronenberg Foundation since 2000. The patron of the Award was the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a member of the Council of the Kronenberg Foundation, an outstanding Polish historian and a scientist of international standing. The Award is PLN 50,000 and it is made for outstanding achievements in the following areas: museum curatorship, conservation, archival and library work; preservation and promotion of the Polish cultural heritage in Poland and abroad; projects undertaken by local authorities to safeguard the national heritage; individual and collective initiatives to collect and preserve heritage remnants; and promotion of the knowledge of the need and methods to preserve the cultural heritage in Poland. # # # Citi Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com. Kronenberg Foundation The Kronenberg Foundation was established in 1996. On behalf of Citi Handlowy, it provides assistance for programs promoting the public good in the following areas: education, local development and preservation of the national heritage. Its activities include, among others, a financial education program for secondary school students called "My Finances," organized in cooperation with the National Bank of Poland and the Junior Achievement Foundation; seminars "Vademecum of the Benefactor." Programs include: Employee Volunteer Program and Students Adopt Museums. Kronenberg Foundation competitions include: Wokulski, Microentrepreneur of the Year, and the Bank Handlowy w Warszawie S.A. Award in the Theory of Economics, which is given for outstanding achievements in the area of economics and finance, as well as the Prof. Aleksander Gieysztor Award, given for outstanding contribution to the preservation of the Polish cultural heritage.