7 Apr 2008 07:00
Open Joint-Stock Company LSR Group07 April 2008 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN LSR Group begins construction of a new crushed granite plant in the Leningrad region in response to growing demand St. Petersburg, 7 April 2008 - LSR Group ("LSR" or the "Group") one of theleading real estate developers and building materials producers in St Petersburgand the Leningrad region (LSE: LSRG, MICEX, RTS: LSRG), today announces thatOJSC Granit-Kuznechnoye (a subsidiary of LSR Group) has started to install a newcrushing and screening plant in the Leningrad region with a design capacity of660,000 cub.m of crushed granite per year. Investments in the project includeplant supply, infrastructure work and equipment purchase and represent approx.US$12 million. The decision to build the plant was taken early in 2007 in view of the growingdemand for crushed granite. The new plant will be located in the Zabolotnoyearea of the Gavrilovo quarry in the Vyborg district, in the Leningrad region.The installation of the new plant will be completed within one month, allowingcustomers to receive their first shipments as early as the end of April. Thetests have shown that the crushed stone from the quarry meets all high standardsof durability, wearability, frost resistance and content of pulverized andclayey particles. Therefore, the new plant products can be used for all types ofconstruction including housing projects. Commenting on the announcement, Vassily Kostritsa, CEO of OJSCGranit-Kuznechnoye, said: "The launch of a new production facility, the fifth in the Leningrad region, isfully in line with our strategic objectives and will allow the company tosignificantly increase the volumes of products supplied to the growing marketsin Northwest Russia (St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region) and Central Russia(Moscow). The location of the plant in the Vyborg district will also provide anefficient logistics system enabling us to deliver crushed granite both by railand road." -Ends - NOTES TO EDITORS: OJSC Granit-Kuznechnoye is the largest crushed granite producer in NorthwestRussia. Currently the company has four plants operating in three deposits in thePriozyorsk district, Leningrad region. The proved reserves of the company areover 360 million cub.m, according to the licenses held by the company. In 2007, Granit-Kuznechnoye sold 4,275 million cub.m of crushed stone. The keymarkets of the company are the Northwest and Central regions of Russia. OJSC LSR Group is a diversified construction company founded in 1993 andoperating in a number of complementary market segments. Its core business areasare building materials, construction and real estate development. The Groupincludes enterprises for extraction and processing of aggregates, productionand transportation of building materials, and housing construction - from massmarket large-panel housing to elite property built after designs made by leadingdomestic and foreign architects. LSR Group has operations and offices in a number of cities in the LeningradOblast, in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,Ukraine and Germany. LSR Group employs over 15,000 people. In 2005 and 2006 the revenues of LSR Group(according to IFRS statements) were RUB 13,085.5 million and RUB 21,110.8million respectively. For the six months of 2007 the Group's revenues amountedto RUB 16,062.0 million compared to RUB 9,336.4 million for the same period lastyear. In July 2007, Moody's Investors Service assigned a B1 rating to LSR Group;outlook - stable. In November 2007, OJSC LSR Group implemented an IPO. InDecember 2007, LSR Group was bestowed a National Award in the field of businessas 'The Company of the Year' in the 'Construction' category. For more details please contact: Press Service, OAO Granit-Kuznechnoye +7 (812) 702-2682 +7 (961) 800-0466 press@granit-kuznechnoe.ru www.granit-kuznechnoe.ru Press Service, LSR Group Tel.: +7(812) 314-1044 press@lsrgroup.ru www.lsrgroup.ru Legal disclaimer: NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES,AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN Some of the information in these materials may contain projections or otherforward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financialperformance of the Company. You can identify forward looking statements by termssuch as "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "will","could," "may" or "might" the negative of such terms or other similarexpressions. The Company wishes to caution you that these statements are onlypredictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. TheCompany does not intend to update these statements to reflect events andcircumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence ofunanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differmaterially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements ofthe Company, including, among others, general economic conditions, thecompetitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapidtechnological and market change in the industries the Company operates in, aswell as many other risks specifically related to the Company and its operations. Neither these materials nor any copy of it may be taken or transmitted into theUnited States, Australia, Canada or Japan. These materials do not constitute orform part of any offer or invitation to sell, or any solicitation of any offerto purchase nor shall it (or any part of it) or the fact of its distribution,form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefor.The offer and the distribution of these materials and other information inconnection with the listing and offer in certain jurisdictions may be restrictedby law and persons into whose possession any document or other informationreferred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observe any suchrestriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute aviolation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. These materials are not an offer for sale of any securities in the UnitedStates. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absentregistration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of1933. 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