X5 Retail Regulatory News (FIVE)

25 Jun 2007 07:01

X5 Retail Group N.V.25 June 2007 X5 RETAIL GROUP APPOINTS CEO FOR UKRAINE Amsterdam, 25 June 2007 - X5 Retail Group N.V. (LSE: FIVE), Russia's leadingfood retailer in terms of sales, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr.Jacquot Boelen as Chief Executive Officer of X5 Retail Group in Ukraine. Mr. Boelen, 47, will be responsible for the general management and businessdevelopment of X5 in Ukraine. He will be in charge of implementing the Group'smulti-format strategy, developing and implementing commercial and operationalstrategy and meeting sales and EBITDA Group targets for the Ukrainian market.Mr. Boelen will be based in Kiev and will report into Lev Khasis, X5 RetailGroup CEO. Mr. Boelen has over 25 years of retail experience having held a variety ofsenior positions for international operators. Most recently, he was thePresident and CEO of Ahold, Central Europe. Commenting on the appointment, Lev Khasis, X5 Retail Group CEO stated: "The position of Chief Executive Officer in Ukraine has been created as a resultof our strategic review, which identified the Ukrainian market as one of the twokey geographical priorities - along with the European part of Russia - for theGroup's further expansion over the next 5 years. We are currently finalising ourstrategy for Ukraine, one of Eastern Europe's largest markets with a hugepotential and in which we aim to become one of the leading operators over themedium term by means of organic growth and potential selective acquisitions. Weare confident that Mr. Boelen, with his extensive knowledge of the internationalretail business and his solid management background working for major retailcompanies, will contribute to the Company's success in this market". Mr. Boelen commented: "I am delighted to accept the position of CEO Ukraine, working for Russia'sleading food retail operator. X5 has a clear, long-term aggressive strategy forfurther expansion in one of the world's fastest growing markets and I believe myexperience in managing retail operations in Eastern Europe will help the Companyto achieve its targets in Ukraine." - End - Enquiries to: X5 Retail Group N.V.Gennady FrolovHead of Corporate CommunicationsOffice +7 495 950 5577 ext. 10130Mobile +7 495 998 3335Email gennady.frolov@x5.ru Note to Editors: Mr. Boelen's biography: Mr. Boelen (47) started his retails career in 1982 at Vroom and Dreesmann,Holland, as sales manager, assistant store manager and store manager. From 1996to 1999 he served as Operations Director of Makro Cash & Carry, Poland (MetroAG), subsequently serving as Country Manager of Real, Poland (Metro AG) until2001. In 2001 Mr. Boelen joined Royal Ahold a Europe's leading supermarket andhypermarket operator, as President and CEO of Ahold, Poland before becomingPresident and CEO of Ahold, Central Europe in 2003. He graduated from the Nederlands Instituut voor Marketing and studied businessadministration in the Open University in Holland. About X5 Retail Group: X5 Retail Group N.V. is Russia's largest food retailer in terms of sales. As of31 March 2007, the Group had 512 company-managed "Pyaterochka" soft discountstores located in the Moscow (232), St. Petersburg (215) and other Russian areas(65), and 169 company-managed "Perekrestok" supermarkets across Central Russiaand Ukraine, including 99 stores in Moscow. As of 31 March 2007, franchisees operated 533 Pyaterochka branded stores acrossRussia and Kazakhstan. Perekrestok had 10 stores operated by franchisees in theMoscow area. Pyaterochka and Perekrestok have merged their operations as of 18 May 2006 tocreate the clear leader in the Russian food retail market. The Group's audited pro-forma net sales for the FY 2006 were US $3,551 million,up +50% vs. 2005. Pyaterochka chain provided US $1,973 million of net sales, thePerekrestok chain contributed US $1,496 million of net sales, and Merkado chaincontributed US $ 82 million. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange