VP Group (Lithuanian: UAB VP grupė, previously Vilniaus Prekyba Group, VP Market) is one of the largest Lithuanian groups of private companies. It is a holding company through which shareholders manage numerous subsidiaries. It traces its roots to 1992. The flagship property of the company is a chain of retail supermarkets (Maxima Group), which is managed by UAB Vilniaus prekyba. Its principal shareholder is Nerijus Numavičius.
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UAB Vilniaus prekyba is a holding company registered in Lithuania that manages retail and pharmacy chains. It owns the retail chain operator Maxima Group and pharmacy chain Euroapotheca. Relvit Ltd is a holding company registered in Malta that manages the companies operating shopping malls Akropolis and projects under development in Eastern Europe. Eva Group is an investment company. Its current holdings include Polish confectioner Mieszko and Lithuanian mineral water company Druskininkų rasa. NDX Energija was involved in the failed LEO LT project. It continues to invest in various companies. In June 2011, it acquired controlling interest in Mispol, Polish canned meat and pâté producer.[1]
The company was founded by nine men, who earned the nickname of VP 9 (Lithuanian" VP devintukas): brothers Vladas, Julius and Nerijus Numavičius, brothers Žilvinas, Mindaugas and Gintaras Marcinkevičius, Ignas Staškevičius, Renatas Vaitkevičius, Mindaugas Bagdonavičius. The core group met as medical students at Vilnius University.[2] They started transacting in real estate. The retail business began when they could not resell a liquor store.[2] Soon it became the main focus of the group. The extensive growth of the retail chain was funded by sale of various stocks that the group acquired during post-Soviet privatization campaigns. One of the transaction involved stock sale of four sugar refineries to Danisco. Other companies included Vilniaus paukštynas (poultry farm), Birštono mineraliniai vandenys (mineral water), Vilniaus mėsos kombinatas (meat packing), Vilniaus duona (bakery).[2] In 2003, VP Group, through its subsidiary UAB NDX energija, bought 97.1% of shares in Vakarų skirstomieji tinklai (Western Power Grid Company), electricity distributor. After the successful transaction Darius Nedzinskas became the 10th shareholder of the VP Group in 2007.[2] The group further pursued ambitious goals in the energy sector, becoming shareholder of LEO LT, the national investor established to raise funds for the planned construction of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant. After the failure of LEO LT in September 2009, the group had fallen out, undergoing significant changes in ownership and leadership. However, little detail is available, as the group is privately held by closely related people (several brothers and brothers-in-law), who avoid publicity.[2] Chairman and president Nerijus Numavičius appears to be concentrating the power in his hands as in January 2011 he obtained permission from the anti-trust commission to increase his holdings in VP Group and related companies up to 73%.[3]