Moscow, 26 March 2019 – X5 Retail Group N.V. (‘X5’ or the ‘Company’), a leading Russian food retailer (LSE and MOEX ticker: "FIVE"), announces the launch of a joint project by Pyaterochka retail chain, the Centre to Search for Missing People (‘CSMP’) and the Liza Alert search and rescue team. The project will set up "safety zones" in retail stores across Moscow and the Moscow region to help lost elderly people and children find their way home as soon as possible.
Pyaterochka is the first retail chain to launch such a project in partnership with Liza Alert. Initially, it will involve over 2,600 stores in Moscow and the Moscow region, with each new store in these regions joining the project. Participating stores will designate a special area marked by an orange geolocation sign to serve as a landmark for lost people. In the store, a lost person can either ask any employee for help or wait for assistance at the designated area. The store director will then call the CSMP hotline to report that a lost person has been found. Depending on the circumstances, the CSMP operator will decide whether to call an ambulance, the police, or contact Liza Alert to send their representative to the store. Pyaterochka’s personnel in Moscow and the Moscow region have been trained to identify a lost and disoriented person and provided with appropriate guidelines on actions to be taken when spotting a lost individual in their store.
"This partnership with Liza Alert is an opportunity for the Pyaterochka team to be active participants in civil society, and I really hope that we can make a contribution to help return missing people to their homes," said Pyaterochka General Director Sergey Goncharov.
"Most Pyaterochkas are located in residential areas. With a retail store in almost every neighbourhood, both children and the elderly, who face the greatest risk, can easily find their way to the nearest store. This makes us hopeful that our joint project will facilitate the search for missing people and help return them to their families safe and sound," said CSMP General Director and Liza Alert Chairman Grigory Sergeev.
According to Liza Alert, some 100,000 people are reported missing in Russia every year. To facilitate their search, Pyaterochka and Liza Alert have created a special website, enabling all those interested to sign up, post information about their missing friends and family members, and initiate a search effort. The website will become fully operational on 4 April.