In the event that for any reason 5 days before the Date of the Interest Rate Recalculation on the website of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) or other substituting website, the value of the Short-Term Reference Interest Rate/ Medium-Term Reference Interest Rate is not published according to BNB statistics for the respective month preceding the month in which the recalculation is made, henceforth in accordance with the current Action Plan:

• When determining the value of the Reference Interest Rate, the last available value according to BNB statistics of the Short-term Interest Rate/ Medium-term Interest Rate officially published on the BNB website or on the substitute website will be applied, before the first day of the respective month in which the recalculation is made, for the term of three calendar months, starting from the month following the month for which the Short- term Interest Rate/ Medium-term Interest Rate according to BNB statistics has been announced.

• In the event that there is still no announced information on the value of the Short-term Interest Rate/ Medium-term Interest Rate according to BNB statistics, for the previous three consecutive calendar months, the Reference Interest Rate will be assumed to be similar to the above mentioned interest rates, reflecting the expenses of the banks for financing in the official currency in Bulgaria, announced on the official website of the European Central Bank or another official source.

• In case there is still no announced information on the value of the Short-term Interest Rate/Medium-term Interest Rate according to BNB statistics for the previous three consecutive calendar months and there is no interest rate, for Reference interest rate under this Agreement in the future will be applied EURIBOR, 2 (two) working days (spot value date) before the Date of interest recalculation, as the term of the used index depends on the specific contract with the client.

Information on the applicable values of EURIBOR is published on the website of Raiffeisenbank (www.rbb.bg) and is announced in its commercial premises.

Information on the applicable values of: the 1-month / 3-month / 6-month EURIBOR is also available on the websites of publicly available leading financial sites such as http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu (or on another page that replaces the pages of http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu).

In the event that EURIBOR changes significantly or is no longer available, the EURIBOR Action Plan shall apply accordingly.

In the event that the interest benchmark rate (EURIBOR) used under a loan agreement changes significantly or is no longer available, it shall be replaced:

• with an alternative interest base, information on the applicable values of which is published on the websites of publicly available leading financial sites such as http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu (or on another page that replaces the pages of http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu),

  or

• an alternative reference interest rate specified in the interest rate statistics of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), information on the applicable values of which is published on the BNB website or on another page which replaces the BNB website,

  or

• if interest base quotes are not available / published on the websites of publicly available leading financial sites such as http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu (or on other pages that replace them), as well as on the platforms for analysis and trading in financial instruments (e.g. Bloomberg and Reuters), then quotes from the interbank market may be used, on which the Bank may obtain financing.

In the event that the interest benchmark rate (LIBOR) used under a loan agreement changes significantly or is no longer available, it shall be replaced:

• with an alternative interest rate, information on the applicable values of which is published on the websites of publicly available leading financial sites such as http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu (or on another page that replaces the pages of http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu),

  or

• an alternative reference interest rate specified in the interest rate statistics of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), information on the applicable values of which is published on the BNB website or on another page that replaces the BNB website,

  or

• if interest base quotes are not available / published on the websites of publicly available leading financial sites such as http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu (or on other pages that replace them), as well as on the platforms for analysis and trading in financial instruments (e.g. Bloomberg and Reuters), then quotes from the interbank market may be used, on which the Bank may obtain financing.

The new interest base or the new reference interest rate should meet the following criteria:

• be in the same currency as the interest rate benchmark that is being exchanged. For BGN it is permissible replacement with the new interest base or the new reference interest rate in EUR, as they are considered interchangeable due to the presence of a Currency Board in Bulgaria;
• be within the same maturity of the interest rate benchmark that is being replaced;
• a compensatory allowance or discount should be included in the new interest base or the new reference interest rate so that the final interest remains unchanged at the date of the initial application of the exchange and does not exceed the last applicable interest under the contract, as reflected in the Credit Institutions Act, the Consumer Credit Act and the Consumer Real Estate Loans Act.

The choice of an alternative interest rate base is made in accordance with the legal requirements for Interest Rate Benchmarks according to Annex 1 under Regulation 2016/1011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as well as an analysis of existing options based on data published on publicly available leading financial sites http://www.euribor.org or www.euribor-rates.eu (or on other pages that replace them), as well as on the platforms for analysis and trading in financial instruments (e.g. Bloomberg and Reuters). The purpose of the analysis is to select an interest base that is as close as possible in terms of characteristics (value, term, currency, development expectations, volatility) to that which was applicable in the contractual relationship between the Bank and its customers to the moment of its change or termination. This is necessary due to the need to maintain a sustainable interest rate policy applied by the Bank. In accordance with the current procedures in the Bank, regular monitoring of the emergence of new benchmarks / products using benchmarks within RBBG is carried out by the Market, Liquidity & Operational Risk Controlling Department.

It is envisaged the initial application of the substitution to take place not later than 3 (three) months from the termination of the benchmark or after the expiration of the fixing period under the contract, as in the initial transition the interest under the Credit Institutions Act shall not exceed the last applicable interest under the contract with the customer. For the period from the termination of the benchmark to the initial application of the replacement, the last available value of the benchmark rate shall be used.