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Press release
To be published on Thursday 27 March 2008 at 10 am

SOK to take Prisma to St Petersburg

SOK is taking the Prisma chain to St Petersburg. The first unit, located in the shopping centre of Hotel Moskva, will open its doors in summer 2008.

The first Prisma Superstore will be opened in the very centre of the city, on Nevskiy Prospekt. The total area of the Prisma, located in Hotel Moskva's shopping, business and fitness centre, is approximately 2,500 m². The store will employ over 60 persons. This and next year, 3 to 5 Prismas will be opened in St Petersburg, and the long term plan is to open 15 to 20 units.

- Prisma's competitive advantages in St Petersburg include reliability, a wide range of products, efficiency and easy shopping. The location in the heart of the city is excellent as there are not many grocery stores to speak of in the vicinity, says Vesa Punnonen, President of the SOK St Petersburg supermarkets.

The Prisma chain is the market leader for hypermarket stores in Finland. According to Punnonen, the product ranges in the new Prismas will be based on the consumption patterns of the people living in the neighbourhood. The superstore type unit in the city centre will focus on daily consumer goods. The range of products in the other hypermarkets will also include consumer durables.

– Business operations in Russia support the S Group's business concept to produce services and benefits for the customer-owners. Profitability in Russia, increase in the value of business operations, and new procurement sources make the expansion to St Petersburg worthwhile. This is how we can also support Finnish customer ownership, says Antti Sippola, Senior Vice President, SOK Business Units.

– Furthermore, in commercial terms speaking, St Petersburg is an excellent market area: It has over 5 million inhabitants, the standard of living is quickly improving but the offering of daily consumer goods is inadequate, Sippola adds.

SOK already has three hotel projects in St Petersburg. The first one, the five star Holiday Club St Petersburg, was opened in January. Sokos Hotel Olympic Garden and Sokos Hotel Vasilievsky will be opened this year.

Additional information:
Vesa Punnonen, Managing Director, SOK Retail Int. Oy,
SOK Corporation President, Retail, Russia
tel. +358 10 76 82893, gsm +358 50 370 6471

Antti Sippola, Senior Vice President, SOK Business Units, SOK, tel. +358 10 76 82890, gsm +358 50 036 4650

Best reached after 12 noon.

You can download a conceptual image of the first Prisma in St. Petersburg from the S Group media service at: mediapalvelu.s-kanava.fi

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