Rautakirja, part of the SanomaWSOY Group, is expanding its kiosk operations to Russia by establishing a joint venture with the Russian OOO Partner Service Group. Rautakirja will hold a 70% majority share in the new company, OOO R-Kiosk. The company will launch its modern kiosk concept in Moscow with the aim of later expanding its business to other major cities.

OOO R-Kiosk targets busy main streets and the vicinity of Metro stations as locations for its up-to-date kiosk outlets. The company aims to set up 50 kiosks during the first year.

The kiosk outlets' product mix will be based on newspapers and magazines, sweets, tobacco products and various pre-paid cards. "Our kiosks are modern convenience stores focusing on selling impulse buys. As our logo we will use the blue and yellow letter R, and our kiosk concept will underline the speed and convenience of shopping at our kiosks," says Kalvar Kase, Director of International Kiosk Operations, outlining the company's business policy.

Kiosks play a significant role in single copy sales of newspapers and magazines in Russia. Thus the establishment of the joint venture supports Rautakirja's aim of becoming the leading press distributor in the major Russian cities. Rautakirja already has a press distribution company in Moscow. Independent Media, part of the SanomaWSOY Group's magazine division Sanoma Magazines is the leading player on the magazines market in Russia. "We have not ruled out acquisitions, even major ones, as a potential means for achieving our goal," says Erkki Järvinen, President and CEO of Rautakirja.


SANOMAWSOY CORPORATION


Matti Salmi
Senior Vice President
Finance and Administration


Additional information:
Kalvar Kase, Director, International Kiosk Operations, Rautakirja Corporation, tel. +372 503 3945
Erkki Järvinen, President and CEO, Rautakirja Corporation, tel. +358 400 455 913

Rautakirja is the market leader in kiosk operations, press distribution, and movie theatres in Finland and in the Baltic countries. Moreover, it leads the Finnish and Estonian markets for bookstores, and from the beginning of 2007 also the Dutch market for press distribution. The press distribution business has further expanded into the Russian and Romanian markets. Rautakirja is part of the SanomaWSOY Group, which operates in versatile fields of media in over 20 European countries.