Amsterdam, 18 December 2007
X5 Retail Group N.V., Russia’s largest food retailer in terms of sales (LSE ticker: “FIVE”), announced today that it has mandated BNP Paribas, CALYON, HSBC Bank plc, ING Bank N.V. and Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB) (each an “Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner”) to arrange a USD 1,100,000,000 3 year Term Loan Facility. Societe Generale joined the transaction prior to the launch of general syndication as a Mandated Lead Arranger.