With these openings, Lenta expands its network in the Central Region to 13 hypermarkets in 9 cities.

St-Petersburg, Russia; 05 December, 2014– Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA) one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce the opening hypermarkets Ivanovo and Vladimir, Central Russia. Both stores were previously operated under the Bimart brand and have been reopened under the Lenta brand.
The new store in Ivanovo is a Lenta compact format hypermarket located on Lezhnevskaya Str., 164. The store has a total area of 7,932 sq.m, with 6,135 sq.m of selling space. The new Lenta store in Vladimir is a standard format hypermarket. It is located on Moskovskoe Highway, 2 and has total area of 19,000 sq.m, with 9,058 sq.m. of selling space.

Both the Ivanovo and Vladimir stores are open from 8 am to 11 pm, seven days a week. A broad product assortment of approximately 19,500 SKUs in the store of Ivanovo and approximately 28,000 SKUs in the store of Vladimir has been selected specifically for residents of the cities and includes Lenta’s private label and federal product ranges alongside local produce. Each store has extensive customer parking. The store in Ivanovo has 31 cash registers. The store in Vladimir has 36 cash registers. The properties are owned by Lenta.

The opening of these hypermarkets in Ivanono and Vladimir brings the total number of Lenta stores to 95 hypermarkets in 55 cities across Russia and 19 supermarkets in the Moscow region.

About Lenta

Lenta is one of the largest retail chains in Russia and the country’s second largest hypermarket chain (in terms of 2013 sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 95 hypermarkets in 55 cities across Russia and 19 supermarkets in Moscow and the Moscow region, with a total of approximately 617,142 sq.m of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of approximately 6,300 sq.m. The Company operates four hypermarket distribution centres.

The Company’s price-led hypermarket formats are differentiated in terms of their promotion and pricing strategies as well as their local product assortment. The Company employed approximately 27,800 people as of 31 December 2013.

The Company’s management team combines a mix of local knowledge and international expertise coupled with extensive operational experience in Russia. Lenta’s largest shareholders include TPG Capital, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and VTB Capital Private Equity, all of whom are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance. Lenta is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange and trades under the ticker: ‘LNTA’.

A brief video summary on Lenta’s business can be seen here.

For further information please visit www.lentainvestor.com, or contact:

Lenta
Anna Meleshina,
Public Relations & Government Affairs Director
Tel: +7 812 363 28 53
E-mail: anna.meleshina@lenta.com

Yana Mogileva, PR Manager
Ňel:+7 (812) 336 39 97
E-mail: yana.mogileva@lenta.com

Instinctif Partners
International Media:
Mark Walter and Tony Friend
Ňel:+44 (0)20 7457 2020
E-mail: Mark.Walter@instinctif.com

Russian Media:
Anton Karpov
Ňel:+7 495 660 05 91
E-mail: Anton.Karpov@instinctif.com