On 7 December, Apranga Group, the leader of retail clothing market in Lithuania and the Baltic States, opened the second Zara store in Estonia with an area of 1100 square metres in the “Kristine” shopping centre in Tallinn. The first Zara store in Estonia was opened in the “Viru” shopping centre in Tallinn, in 2004. The new Zara store is the fifth store of the Apranga Group in Estonia and the tenth store of the Group opened outside the territory of Lithuania in 2007. Zara chain of stores is developed in the Baltic States according to the franchise contract signed between the Apranga Group and the global retail clothing leader Inditex. Both companies started cooperation in 2004, when the first Zara stores were opened in Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. Currently, the Apranga Group operates 20 franchise Inditex Group stores in the Baltic States (9 Zara stores, 7 Bershka stores, and 4 Pull and Bear stores). In spring 2008, Vilnius will see the opening of the first Stradivarius store, which also belongs to the Inditex chain. According to the development plans of the Apranga Group, the franchise Inditex store chain will be expanded to 50 stores in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia by 2011. The Apranga Group operates a chain of 82 stores in the Baltic States: 55 - in Lithuania, 22 - in Latvia, and 5 - in Estonia. This year, the Apranga Group opened or reconstructed 29 stores, including the first clothing and accessory department store in Lithuania with an area of 3000 square metres in Vilnius. In 2007, the area of the chain operated by the Apranga Group increased by 15.100 square metres, and now reaches 53.600 square metres. In January-November 2007, the retail turnover of goods of the chain operated by the Apranga Group amounted to LTL 392.6 million (EUR 113.7 million), and exceeded the turnover of the same period of the previous year by 46.9% (LTL 267.3 million [EUR 77.4 million]). Over January-November, the turnover of the Apranga Group chain increased by 46.8% in Lithuania, 54.8% - in Latvia, and 28.3% - in Estonia. According to the specified forecasts, in 2007, the Apranga Group plans to reach the retail turnover of LTL 435 million (EUR 126 million), and earn profit before taxes amounting to LTL 32.5 million (EUR 9.4 million). The company belongs to the concern MG Baltic. Rimantas Perveneckas Director General of Apranga Group +370 5 2390801 Irma Marcinkiene Marketing Director of Apranga Group +370 686 94312