OREANDA-NEWS. August 15, 2012. MND Group N.V., the mother company of MND Group, has set up MD Drilling GmbH in partnership with German company Daldrup & Sohne. Both partners hold a 50% interest in the joint venture. MD Drilling is to provide drilling and exploration services to local business partners, focusing primarily on geothermal well drilling. Entry into the German market will require an investment of close to a half billion CZK to acquire a new drilling rig with minimal hook load capacity 450 t.

In Prague on July 19, 2012: MND Group is expanding to the German market. MND Group N.V. and local partner Daldrup & Sohne have founded a new company, MD Drilling GmbH.

MD Drilling is going to specialize in providing drilling and exploration services, particularly geothermal well drilling but also oil and gas exploratory well drilling or underground gas storage facility construction on the German market. It represents another business expansion of the MND Group into the field of drilling services under the MND Drilling & Services brand. In the past several years, MND D&S has grown from a small local drilling company into a reputable international business. The company is now celebrating success on the Polish market providing shale gas exploratory drilling services for market leaders such as ExxonMobil.

To enter the German market MND Group is planning to invest close to half a billion CZK. The newly-founded MD Drilling is to purchase a state-of-the-art drilling rig, which can be deployed to carry out deep drilling operations using most modern technology.

Miroslav Jestrabik, the KKCG Group's Investment Director responsible for crude oil and natural gas, says: "We are not only bringing a large capital investment into the new company, but are also coming with rich experience and !<now-how in carrying out complex and technologically demanding deep well drilling. It is our expertise and modern, environment- friendly technology that is sought after by clients carrying out geothermal well drilling, often in close vicinity to residential areas." Mr. Jestfabfk continues: "For MND Drilling & Services, Germany is only the beginning of the expansion. In the future we plan to enter into other markets

Josef Daldrup, CEO, Daldrup & Sohne, adds: "In the last several years, the geothermal energy market has begun to grow rapidly. Many projects have been launched throughout Europe. We intend to take advantage of geothermal energy's growing potential, which is to become a substantial part of Europe's energy mix."