PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC--(Marketwire - October 8, 2008) - IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it was selected to deliver a state-of-the-art information system for Benzina and Benzina Plus petrol station network. The delivery and implementation will be managed by IBM Global Business Services and its consultants will be responsible for project management to fulfill all customer requirements.

This information system under the new marketing strategy of Benzina should improve existing driver services quality. The main contribution for customers will be the improvement of payment of goods and services. In addition, IBM will assist Benzina with sales optimization and management processes at its petrol stations, card services delivery and provide efficient corporate governance tools.

"Benzina is currently undergoing a series of changes including promotion of Benzina Plus brand awareness change as the most significant one. The deployment and rapid commissioning of the new information system is a key component of our new strategy to provide superior services to all customers of our fuel stations. We are confident the new Retail Information System will provide the best service experience and availability to all drivers," said Ing. Martin Durèák, Chief Executive Officer of Benzina.

For this project IBM partnered with Unicode Systems, s.r.o as the vendor of Point-of-Sale software, petrol station back-office systems, central system, as well as loyalty and fuel card management system; Monet + a.s. to provide payment card authorization system; and ACIS, Construction and Technology Services, s.r.o., to deploy the solution across all petrol stations and provide maintenance.

"We are happy Benzina decided to collaborate with IBM on this project. The trust they put in us is an endorsement of our unique capabilities of blending software and services to deliver high value consulting services," said Vladek Šlezingr, Country Leader of IBM Global Business Services Czech Republic & Slovakia.

The agreement was signed in September 2008.

About IBM

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About Benzina

For more information about Benzina, please visit: www.benzina.cz.