When I noted that WM planned to buy into Migros Turk, a Turkish big-box chain, I failed to note that it is one of the largest retailers in Russia.
Doing business in Russia means one thing: extensive bribing of public officials at every level. That's how stuff gets done. Hence, times are good for officials as there is a booming commercial real estate sector in Russia.
Despite the growing number of projects in the capital, however, experts say development activity is gradually shifting to the regions, where returns are higher and competition is much lower.Ramenka is 50% owned by Migros Turk, so WM would be buying into an expanding successful hypermarket business..."Retail chains are growing much faster than the Moscow construction market," said Maxim Gasiev, head of retail at Colliers International.
"This was the beginning year of true regional expansion," Kershaw said. "The year was average for Moscow, but truly exceptional for the regions."
In March, IKEA opened its first Russian store outside Moscow and St.Petersburg -- in Kazan -- and is planning to open stores in 10 other cities with a population of more than 1 million.
Turkey's Ramenka, which owns Ramstore supermarkets, in addition to opening several stores in Moscow, entered the St. Petersburg market in 2004 and is now also present in such regional cities as Krasnoyarsk, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod.
Posted by Kevin on January, 11 2005 at 01:47 PM
