With this opening, Lenta expands its network in the Urals Region to 7 hypermarkets in 5 cities.

St-Petersburg, Russia; 26 February, 2015– Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA) one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce the opening of its first hypermarket in Chelyabinsk.

The new store is a Lenta standard format hypermarket located at 126 Blyukhera Street, Chelyabinsk. The store has a total area of 12,000 sq.m, with 7,018 sq.m of selling space and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A broad product assortment of 27,000 SKUs has been selected specifically for residents of Chelyabinsk and includes Lenta’s private label and federal product ranges alongside local produce. The store has 650 parking spaces and 40 cash registers. The property is owned by Lenta.

Jan Dunning, Chief Executive Officer of Lenta,said:

“We are pleased to be opening our first store in Chelyabinsk, as we see great potential here and in the Urals region as a whole.

We bring to the city a unique retail format which combines a broad assortment of quality goods at attractive prices with 24/7 access. Lenta remains committed to maintaining low prices and giving people a real opportunity to save money by running regular promotions, providing additional discounts of 3-8% for disadvantaged social groups and enlarging the assortment of locally produced goods.”

The opening in Chelyabinsk is Lenta’s second hypermarket opening in 2015 and brings the total number of Lenta stores to 110 hypermarkets in 61 cities across Russia and 24 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 110 hypermarkets in 61cities across Russia and 24 supermarkets in Moscow and the Moscow region, with a total of approximately 715,186 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 35,100[1] people as of 31 December 2014.

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 and its Big Data initiative 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

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[1] FTE (full-time equivalent). Average FTE for 2014 was 27,200 employees.