Kirkel – November 8, 2007. Praktiker Group, one of the leading DIY center operators in Europe, is about to make its market entry into the Ukraine. On 29 November 2007, the company’s first large home improvement and DIY store with a selling space of around 8,400 square meters will open its gates in Donezk. This will be the 85th international store and the Ukraine is the 8th and so far largest European country into which Praktiker expands. In 2008, further outlets are scheduled to open in this country, including in Kiev and Lvov.

The upcoming opening of the first store in Donezk represents an important milestone in the accelerated internationalization strategy of the Praktiker Group and at the same time it is also a premiere for consumers in the Ukraine: despite a booming home building and renovation industry no other international Do-it-Yourself store operator has set foot in this country yet. Wolfgang Werner, CEO of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG: “So much the better for our business opportunities in this second largest country in Europe where Praktiker this way also contributes to the economic development and to raising the standard of living to Western European levels“.

In addition to the store in Donezk, the Praktiker Group plans to open another three locations in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece during the last two months of the current year. With 15 new stores and planned investments totaling around 100 million euros, the international expansion of the Praktiker Group reached a new record high in 2007. For the next few years, Werner announced the opening of at least 20 new locations each across Europe in the framework of the company’s accelerated internationalization strategy. Praktiker is firmly committed to utilizing its resources and know-how in the international DIY business to move into more as yet untapped markets. After the Ukraine the next country on the agenda is Albania.