The Midland Group of Companies has reached an agreement with Kharkiv-based food distributor NS Limited to sell its stake in MD Retail, Ukraine`s fastest-growing chain of convenience mini-marts.

The transaction encompasses all of the chain`s stores with a combined total area exceeding 15,000 m² (250-350 m² each). MD Retail currrently operates throughout eastern Ukraine, in the oblasts (administrative regions) of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Luhansk.

"We believe that MD Retail employs the correct business model for today`s marketplace," said Oleg Kolmykov, the majority shareholder of NS Limited and new General Director of MD Retail. "In this challenging macro-economic climate, having a small-store format with an efficient structure will continue to attract increasingly price-sensitive customers, who may be shopping with smaller baskets but doing so more frequently. With this emerging as the new shopping trend in Ukraine, I trust that MD Retail has a promising future ahead of it."

Since being founded in 2004, NS Limited has concentrated its wholesale food distribution operations in eastern Ukraine. Accordingly, the company plans to utilize its existing logistics center to further improve service to MD Retail`s supply chain. NS Limited will also relocate MD Retail`s head office from Kyiv and merge it with its headquarters in Kharkiv.

MD Retail opened its first store in Donetsk in May 2007. At the time it was sold, the chain consisted of 54 stores, as well as approximately 100 more locations in the investment pipeline. Long-term goals for the company include expansion of the retail chain and the continued development of its distribution centers. Ultimately, MD Retail aims to become the market leader in every region in which it operates.

Midland, founded in 1994, is a group of companies that is active in industries as diverse as commodities trading, steel manufacturing, freight chartering, real estate development and retailing. Midland Group conducts business in 35 countries around the world.