LSR Group (“LSR” or the “Group”) one of the leading real estate developers and building materials producers in St Petersburg and the Leningrad region (LSE: LSRG, MICEX, RTS: LSRG), today announces that OJSC Granit-Kuznechnoye (a subsidiary of LSR Group) has started to install a new crushing and screening plant in the Leningrad region with a design capacity of 660,000 cub.m of crushed granite per year. Investments in the project include plant supply, infrastructure work and equipment purchase and represent approx. US$12 million.

The decision to build the plant was taken early in 2007 in view of the growing demand for crushed granite. The new plant will be located in the Zabolotnoye area of the Gavrilovo quarry in the Vyborg district, in the Leningrad region. The installation of the new plant will be completed within one month, allowing customers to receive their first shipments as early as the end of April. The tests have shown that the crushed stone from the quarry meets all high standards of durability, wearability, frost resistance and content of pulverized and clayey particles. Therefore, the new plant products can be used for all types of construction including housing projects.  

Commenting on the announcement, Vassily Kostritsa, CEO of OJSC Granit-Kuznechnoye, said:

“The launch of a new production facility, the fifth in the Leningrad region, is fully in line with our strategic objectives and will allow the company to significantly increase the volumes of products supplied to the growing markets in Northwest Russia (St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region) and Central Russia (Moscow). The location of the plant in the Vyborg district will also provide an efficient logistics system enabling us to deliver crushed granite both by rail and road.”

Notes to Editors:

OJSC Granit-Kuznechnoye is the largest crushed granite producer in Northwest Russia. Currently the company has four plants operating in three deposits in the Priozyorsk district, Leningrad region. The proved reserves of the company are over 360 million cub.m, according to the licenses held by the company.

In 2007, Granit-Kuznechnoye sold 4,275 million cub.m of crushed stone. The key markets of the company are the Northwest and Central regions of Russia.

OJSC LSR Group is a diversified construction company founded in 1993 and operating in a number of complementary market segments. Its core business areas are building materials, construction and real estate development. The Group includes enterprises for extraction and processing of aggregates,  production and transportation of building materials, and housing construction – from mass market large-panel housing to elite property built after designs made by leading domestic and foreign architects. 

LSR Group has operations and offices in a number of cities in the Leningrad Oblast, in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine and Germany.

LSR Group employs over 15,000 people. In 2005 and 2006 the revenues of LSR Group (according to IFRS statements) were RUB 13,085.5 million and RUB 21,110.8 million respectively. For the six months of 2007 the Group’s revenues amounted to RUB 16,062.0 million compared to RUB 9,336.4 million for the same period last year.

In July 2007, Moody’s Investors Service assigned a B1 rating to LSR Group; outlook – stable. In November 2007, OJSC LSR Group implemented an IPO. In December 2007, LSR Group was bestowed a National Award in the field of business as ‘The Company of the Year’ in the ‘Construction’ category.