Lithuania-owned Novus is buying Austria-owned Billa supermarkets. Established in 2008, Novus has 46 stores with a total area of 220,000 square meters. Last month, Novus secured a $100 million loan – from the EBRD and commercial banks – to build 30 stores around the nation and a ‘green’ warehouse in Kyiv. Billa was established in Ukraine in 1998 by the Rewe Group. After selling nine stores, largely in eastern Ukraine, Billa now has 35 stores – in Kyiv, Kyiv region and Zhytomyr.