Press Release

Prague, 24 July 2007 - BENZINA completed improvement of 50th gas station of BENZINA plus at the end of August. As a result of that, the company reached the middle of its plan outlining the completion of upgrading the total of 102 traditional BENZINA gas stations to BENZINA plus by 2009.

BENZINA commenced upgrading process already in October of last year and given the mild weather through the last year, the company maintained high speed of the reconstruction. As a result of that, today there are two to four BENZINA plus gas stations in each region of the Czech Republic. The upgrade of the 50th gas station was just completed at Jablonec nad Nisou. A total of 78 gas stations will be upgraded by the end of year and the same number of gas stations will be improved under the traditional BENZIBNA brand.

„The recently opened BENZINA plus gas stations include for example Náměšť nad Oslavou and Hluboká nad Vltavou. We are particularly pleased about the Hluboká gas stations- Not only it is located in an attractive tourism with a high traffic during summer but i tis one one of the best upgrading projects given its design, size and location," says Martin Durčák, executive of BENZINA.

The upgrading of BENZINS gas stations worth of a total of 1.3 billion CZK which will include reconstruction and upgrading of 202 traditional BENZINS gas stations by 2009 and upgrade of 102 gas stations to BENZINS plus is not only a largest project of this type in the history of BENZINS but also a largest upgrading project in the history of the retail gas stations market. „The transformation project is paying off," says Martin Durčák and adds: „The transformed and improved BENZINA gas stations operated for already several months are showing cumulative performance increase compared to the rest of the network. Compared to 2006, it is an average increase by 20%, and even 25 % with respect to sales."

In addition to major external improvements related to the gas station by itself, output and service spots or the immediate vicinity, the transformation relates to the interior of gas stations, as well as services offer. The gas station buildings are getting modern equipment, the shops are being expanded with a separate restaurant space. Major emphasis will be put primarily on quality of food and professional staff of the gas stations. The staff will be regularly trained and educated. In addition, most of the gas stations will be newly 24/7operated.

Top quality petrol Verva 100 will be part of the improvement of the product range. Due to its quality features, it significantly improves the engine performance, as well as its life span while lowering the fuel consumption. Today this premium petrol is available at 55 gas stations.

About BENZINA
Benzina, s.r.o., with its 319 gas stations operates the largest national chain in the Czech Republic offering fuel and other goods and services to a broad spectrum of customers. The BENZINA brand is present on the market for almost 50 years. Today, the company is a 100% subsidiary of UNIPETROL holding. The most recent major milestone in the history of BENZINA was 1 May 2007 when Benzina changed its legal form converting the joint stock company to a limited liability company. In 2006, BENZINA controlled 11.8% of market, thus ranking third on the local retail market. In 2006, Benzina showed a profit of 16.25 mil. CZK according to Czech accounting standards at the total sales of 13.2 billion CZK.