Re response to the claims on payment of penalties of the Share Fund of the Republic of Serbia and the Privatisation Agency of the Republic of Serbia

On 20 February 2010, public company ALITA notified the material event regarding
the notified information on the termination of the 24 July 2007 share
sale-purchase agreement of the 51,90242% shares (the Shares) of Akcionarsko
društvo Beogradska industrija piva (the Company), concluded between the Share
Fund of the Republic of Serbia and the Privatisation Agency of the Republic of
Serbia, from one side, and public company ALITA and United Nordic Beverages AB,
acting as a consortium of legal entities (the Buyer), from the other side (the
Privatisation Agreement) and informed that the Share Fund of the Republic of
Serbia and the Privatisation Agency of the Republic of Serbia claim the
following contractual penalties from the public company ALITA for the alleged
infringement of the obligations arising from the Privatization Agreement: 
- the fine amounting to 50 % of the purchase price of the Shares - for the
breach of the obligation to make investments into the Company, as stipulated in
Article 8.1.2 of the Privatisation Agreement; 
- the fine amounting to double value of the transferred fixed assets of the
Company - for the breach of the obligation, stipulated in Article 8.2.2 of the
Privatisation Agreement (i.e. for the failure to secure that the Company would
dispose its fixed assets in accordance with the provisions of the Privatisation
Agreement); 
- the fine amounting to 100% of the purchase price of the Shares - for the
breach of the obligation, stipulated in Article 8.2.4 of the Privatisation
Agreement (i.e. for causing the Company to be put into the enforced settlement
by way of sale of the Company's fixed assets or any other similar proceeding
and failure to prevent such proceedings). 
The amount of the claimed contractual penalties was not indicated; therefore
the exact amount of it is not clear at the moment. However, it is obvious that
the amount of contractual penalties shall exceed the price of the Shares paid
by the Buyer, i.e. EUR 21,400,055.29. 
While responding to such a request, on 5 March 2010 public company „ALITA“, has
informed the Share Fund of the Republic of Serbia and the Privatisation Agency
of the Republic of Serbia, that it does not agree with such alleged breaches of
the Privatization Agreement and, accordingly, the request to pay the penalties,
deems such request as not reasonable and does not agree to pay the requested
penalties; and also deems that the Share Fund of the Republic of Serbia and the
Privatisation Agency of the Republic of Serbia have violated the contractual
rights and applicable laws. Currently the Buyer together with its lawyers is
still analysing the situation and possible strategies to challenge the
aforementioned requests of the institutions of the Republic of Serbia. 
Authorized to provide information: Vytautas Junevicius tel. +370 315 57243

Vytautas Junevičius, 
Director General