OREANDA-NEWS. December 30, 2010. X5 Retail Group N.V., Russia's largest retailer in terms of sales, announced today that Kieran Balfe will become X5 Group CFO with effect from January 11, 2011, following nomination of the Supervisory Board. His appointment as statutory director shall be placed on the agenda of an extraordinary shareholders meeting to be held in February 2011.

Kieran Balfe has almost two decades of management experience in the Russian market, most recently at Mars Inc., a global leader in branded consumer food, confectionary and pet care products with USD 30 billion in sales. Following Mars’ acquisition of confectionary leader Wrigley, Kieran played a major role in the integration of the two companies’ Russian operations to drive efficiencies and leverage global scale and best practices. From 2001 to 2009, Kieran was Wrigley’s Deputy General Manager and CFO for Emerging Markets, responsible for corporate finance, strategic business planning, tax, compliance and audit functions with additional experience in managing IT, legal, overseeing a team of 150 people in Russia, Central Asia and other. In addition to managing organic business growth, Kieran participated in Wrigley’s acquisition of Russia’s premier chocolate company, Korkunov.

Lev Khasis, CEO of X5 Retail Group, said: “Kieran Balfe brings invaluable consumer industry experience and knowledge of global operational best practices to the job of CFO. We plan to accelerate growth significantly in 2011, with record new store openings and integration of the Kopeyka acquisition to build on our number one position, and continued execution of our Strategic Efficiency Program to drive operational excellence and

competitive advantages. I look forward to working with Kieran to deliver on our objectives and realize value for X5’s shareholders.”

Herve Defforey, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, commented: “Following an extensive search, the Supervisory Board is delighted to welcome Kieran to X5’s executive team. His track record combines strong financial management of fast-moving consumer goods businesses and understanding of supply chains with the market knowledge and experience of operating in Russia.”

Kieran Balfe, added: “Russia is one of the world’s most promising consumer markets and X5 is uniquely positioned for leadership and growth as the country’s largest retailer. Having worked at major multi-national suppliers to retailers in Russia, I have tremendous respect for what X5 has achieved in the marketplace and am excited about the opportunities to make this an even stronger company.”

Kieran, 41, was born in Ireland and holds a Masters’ degree in accountancy from University College, Dublin. He qualified as a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland in 1993 and was awarded his Fellowship (highest professional rank) in 2005. He is fluent in English and Russian and has worked in Russia since 1994, starting as an auditor with Coopers and Lybrand. From 1996 to 2001, he held positions at Glencore, American Home Products and Japan Tobacco.

X5 wishes to thank Anton Volyanskiy for serving with distinction as Acting CFO during the management transition since September 2010. In addition to managing key priorities for the finance function, including cash flow changes resulting from the implementation of the new Retail Law, work to reduce X5's effective tax rate and management of X5's credit facilities and banking relationships, Volyanskiy played important role in executing the Kopeyka transaction and negotiations to secure the best long-term ruble financing arrangements. He now resumes his position as the Company's Deputy CFO and will be working closely with Blafe Kieran and X5's finance team.