OREANDA-NEWS. December 30, 2011. X5 Retail Group N.V. (“Company”), Russia’s largest retailer in terms of sales (LSE ticker: “FIVE”), today announced that it has converted its final tranche of USD-denominated 400 mln debt to Rubles thus completing the process of fully denominating X5’s debt portfolio only in local currency. The conversion took place at a USD/RUR exchange rate of 30.74.

X5 Retail Group CFO Kieran Balfe commented:

"Moving to a 100% Ruble-denominated debt portfolio reduces risk for our shareholders by significantly minimizing the impact of USD/RUR volatility on X5's reported financial results. Against a background of being fully funded for 2012 we secured this Ruble credit facility on attractive terms that lengthened our average debt maturity profile. Our objective remains to further strengthen the Company's financial position through continued focus on deleveraging the balance sheet."