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20 November 2018

X5 and Sovcombank create joint venture to enhance network of parcel lockers

Moscow, 20 November 2018– X5 Retail Group ("X5" or the "Company"), a leading Russian food retailer (LSE and MOEX ticker: FIVE), and Sovcombank, one of the largest privately owned banks in Russia, announce the completion of a deal to create a joint venture (JV) focusing on the distribution of online orders through a network of parcel lockers. Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has approved X5’s request to acquire a 50% stake in TsTB ("Digital Technologies of the Future"), a company that is currently fully owned by Sovcombank.

TsTB currently has a network of 500 parcel lockers operating under the Halva brand in Moscow, St Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Kazan and other major Russian cities. For the customers’ convenience, the lockers are installed in Pyaterochka and Perekrestok stores and in Sovcombank offices. The JV parties are planning to increase the number of parcel lockers to 1,500 by the end of 2019.

Igor Pletnev, Director for Strategic Business Development at X5 Retail Group, said: "For X5, this partnership is an important step towards the development of an ancillary service offering for our customers. We are certain that this kind of delivery solution for online shopping will become increasingly popular, and therefore intend to support further active growth in this area of our business."

Andrey Spivakov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board at Sovkombank, said: "For Sovcombank, the main purpose of participating in this project is to enhance distribution capabilities in the online shopping segment and to encourage instalment-based online purchases in partner stores using the bank’s Halva instalment card. We also believe in the financial success of this project, as we have all the prerequisites for further enhancement of the network, including being open to new partners, attractive locations in X5 Retail Group’s stores, the robust Halva brand and, finally, Sovcombank’s financial support."

Denis Petrushevsky, CEO at TsTB, said: "The Halva network is developing the ‘convenience parcel locker’ concept, which implies installation of lockers that are within a walking distance from customers. Pyaterochka fits the purpose of this concept perfectly, as it offers comfortable working hours and enables customers to combine parcel pick-ups with everyday shopping."​