THE "ITALY IN THE WORLD 2009" PRIZE AWARDED TO LUIGI CREMONINI

The award ceremony, under the patronage of the Italian President, was held at the Residence of the Italian Ambassador in Moscow

Moscow, 15th October 2009 - Italy's Ambassador to Russia, Vittorio Surdo, in the presence of numerous Italian and Russian authorities, awarded the "Italy in the World 2009 Prize" to Cavaliere del Lavoro Luigi Cremonini for the business category. This honour is destined for personalities from the culture, arts, politics, information and business worlds, who have particularly distinguished themselves from the standpoint of promoting Italy in the world through activities of significant import. In its previous editions, the recipients of this award have included Sergio Pininfarina, Franco Zeffirelli, Luciano Pavarotti and Oscar Niemeyer.

The prize is awarded on the initiative of the Fondazione Italia, with the endorsement of the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. the Speaker of the Italian Senate, Sen. Renato Schifani, and that of the Chamber of Deputies, the Hon. Gianfranco Fini, who are members of the Honorary Prize Committee.

The choice of Moscow for awarding the prize is linked to the major business initiatives Luigi Cremonini has conducted in Russia: an adventure over a twenty-year span, with initial meat exports to that country in 1985. In 1998 the Cremonini Group established a food products distribution platform for the Russian market, which it operates under the MARR Russia brand, and its turnover had risen to over 132,1 million Euro by 2008.

In 2007 Cremonini started building a new food distribution platform and a hamburger production plant with a production capacity of over 25,000 tonnes of hamburgers per annum. This is being constructed on a 25,000 m2 site owned by the Group in Odinzovo. The total capital expenditure will be approximately 90 million Euros. Thanks to this new initiative, the Cremonini Group expects that its annual turnover in Russia will rise to over 180 million Euros, commencing from 2010.

Cremonini, with over 9,500 employees and 2008 revenues of 2,676.6 million Euro, is one of the largest food groups in Europe and operates in three business areas: production, distribution and catering.
The Group is the leader in Italy in the production of beef and meat-based transformed products (Inalca JBS and Montana) and the marketing and distribution of food products to the food service sector (MARR). It also has a significant presence in the concession catering sector on-board trains and in railway stations, airports and motorway service areas (Chef Express). Finally, it is present in commercial catering with its steakhouse chain (Roadhouse Grill).

Contact: Luca Macario - Tel. 059/75.46.30 - luca.macario@cremonini.com