OREANDA-NEWS  On 18 December RBC SOFT, a subsidiary of ARMADA (MICEX, RTS: ARMD), announced that it had won a tender to develop and deploy an information system consolidating data on the agricultural market, agricultural commodities and foodstuffs. The project value is RUB 195m (approx. USD 7.0m).

The system’s task is to collect and analyze information on the agricultural sector throughout Russia, specifically, data on the production level and agricultural sales, imports and customs duties and quotas, the number of people employed in agribusiness, the volume of stocks, the proper use of agricultural land, etc. According to the contract, the system will be installed at 450 municipal districts in 65 Russian regions.

The idea to create such a comprehensive resource was highlighted in the federal program of agriculture development for the period from 2008 to 2012. The program’s mission is to accelerate the development of all agricultural sectors, improve the standard of living for the rural population, and minimize Russia's dependence on imports of staple foodstuffs. During a four year period, over RUB 1 trillion (approx. USD 36.0bn) of budget funds will be channeled to finance national agriculture projects.

This is the fourth contract between the ARMADA Group and the Agriculture Ministry of Russia. Previously, RBC SOFT won two tenders staged by the agency for the development of the industry’s informatization concept and a data processing system. In addition, ARMADA is currently creating specialized software to monitor the realization of the federal agriculture development program.

“It is a great honor and responsibility for us to cooperate with the Agriculture Ministry. I believe in the new project’s success, as over the nine years of its operation RBC SOFT has gained extensive experience in developing tailored solutions. Furthermore, our acquisitions from 2007 have considerably enhanced the group’s overall expertise in related areas, such as IT services and project management. Taking into consideration the scale of the state-run agriculture development program and its importance for the country, I am sure that ARMADA specialists will be engaged at its subsequent stages as well,” said ARMADA CEO Alexei Kuzovkin.

Investor contact: Ekaterina Semenova

Tel: +7 (495) 363-1111, e-mail: ir@armd.ru

Web: www.armadaitgroup.com