OREANDA-NEWS. March 16, 2011. VTB Bank and OJSC DIXY Group reached an agreement on a RUB 2 bln two-year revolving credit facility. The proceeds will be channeled into financing the ongoing operations of DIXY Group, reported the press-centre of VTB Bank.

“We are glad to cooperate with one of the Russian FMCG leaders. There is no doubt that the loan proceeds will reinforce DIXY Group’s business, which in return will foster growth of the Russian FMCG market,” said Yury Soloviev, Senior Vice-President of VTB Bank.

“The agreements achieved and successful cooperation with one of the major Russian banks are a great support of the Group’s financial liquidity. They help create a basis for further company’s plans to increase operational efficiency and develop its business,” said Fedor Rybasov, General Director at OJSC DIXY Group.

JSC VTB Bank and its subsidiaries (VTB Group) are a leading financial group in Russia, providing a wide range of banking services in the CIS, Western Europe, Asia and Africa.

The Group’s network consists of 957 offices in Russia, the CIS and Europe. Outside Russia the Group operates via 12 subsidiary banks located in the CIS (Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan), Europe (Austria, Cyprus, Germany, France, and Great Britain), Georgia, Africa (Angola), three representative offices located in Italy, China and the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, two VTB branches in China and India, and two VTB Capital plc branches in Singapore and Dubai.

As of September 30, 2010, VTB Group was the second largest financial group in Russia in terms of assets (RUB 3,753 bln) and customer accounts (RUB 1,839 bln).

The major stakeholder of VTB is the Government of the Russian Federation represented by the Federal Agency for the State Property Management with 75.5% of the Bank’s share capital.

DIXY GROUP (RTS, MICEX:DIXY) is one of the leading Russian food and household product retailers.

The first DIXY store opened in 1999 in Moscow. As of February 28, 2011, the Group operated 651 stores, including 628 DIXY neighborhood stores, 15 MEGAMART (compact hypermarket) stores and 8 MINIMART (supermarket) stores in three Federal Regions of Russia: Central, Northwest and Urals.

In May 2007 the Company raised USD 360 Million in its IPO on RTS and MICEX.

The controlling stake in OJSC DIXY Group (63.37%) is owned by the Mercury Group of Companies, a diversified holding company.

In 2010, DIXY’s total revenue reached RUR 64.7 billion. The Company has a total of 228,644 square meters of selling space and employs more than 18,000 people.

The Russian business magazine “Expert” estimates DIXY Group as one of Top-100 Russian largest companies.