Author Archives: CrispConsulting

Russia’s GDP to amount to 4.5% by 2012

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Russia’s GDP is to amount to 4.2%-4.5% by 2012, the Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said Sunday speaking at a session of the Russian economic forum in Strasbourg in France.

He said that there are conditions for the strengthening of ruble and added that Russia’s state debt issue is in a relatively “safe harbor”.

Klepach said his ministry does not expect a drastic hike in prices on food products while the oil price is likely to exceed $100 per barrel.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Dutch Pear Export to Russia Collapsed

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Dutch pear export to Russia  was clearly smaller in Q1 2011 than in 2010, when record quantities were exported. The exported amount of pears in 2010 is larger than in 2009, when few pears were available because of the poor harvest.

Practically all important countries of destination have bought less Dutch pears in 2011. It is, however, striking that more pears were exported to Germany. This happened mainly in January and February, after that Germany also bought less. Poland and Lithuania bought more Dutch pears, but it is quite possible that these are marked for transit to Russia, which imported far less (-57%).

Source: www.freshplaza.com

“Globus Gourmet” to Conquer European Capitals

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Premium-class food retailer Globus Gourmet has changed its expansion course in the most dramatic way. Instead of opening 15 new supermarkets in Russian cities with population exceeding 1 mln, the company decided to open 7 supermarkets in European capitals. The start of the new expansion programme, is supposed to be in London, where the company is planning to open a supermarket with total area 1.500 sq m and investment volume up to £ 4 mln. European expansion will cost at least USD 40 mln. European base rents are reported to be lower than in Moscow, whereas the consumer traffic is a little bit higher.

Source: www.retail.ru

The Price of Street Kiosks to Double

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The new approved version of street kiosk will cost Rub 350,000. New street tents will have a brand new style: laconic, beige colour, without any crude signs. However, they won’t be all the same. Designers from the Moscow Architectural Committee developed various styles: “Classical”, “Modern” and “Free style”. Entrepreneurs can order tents from different manufacturers, as there is no monopoly for them. Manufacturers are obliged to charge the set price and follow the standards, developed by the Moscow Architectural Committee.

The mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin is determined to get rid of old kiosks and set the limit for the number of new ones of 10,000. In 2010 there were 26,000, almost threefold more.

Source: www.retail.ru

Russia and China Switch to Trade in Rubles and Yuan

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Russian Central Bank Deputy Chairman Viktor Melnikov said on Thursday: “This agreement allows for settlements through Russian and Chinese banks not only in the freely convertible currencies but also in the yuan and the rubles”. Russia and China have also agreed to boost bilateral trade from $60 billiion in 2010 to $100 billion by 2015 and to $200 billion by 2020, Melnikov added.

People’s Bank of China Deputy Chairman Ma Delun said the agreement would give the two nations the opportunity to increase the value of deals in their national currencies and “help bring them closer to international reserve currencies.” The deal will also help Russia and China reduce foreign exchange risks and currency conversion costs, Ma Delun and Melnikov said.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Vegetables safety agreement signed between Russia and EU

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The European Commission officially reported that on June 22 Russia and the EU signed an agreement, which allows to immediately resume shipments of vegetables from European farms to Russia.

Under this agreement European vegetables will have to undergo special carantine control and receive a correspondent certificate to confirm their safety.

As per the European Commission 1.1mln tonnes of European vegetables is exported to Russia annually with total value of 600mln euros. They account for 20% of all the vegetables imported to Russia.

Source: www.fruitnews.ru

Dixy Group Completed Acquisition of Victoria

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Dixy Group closed acquisition deal of Victoria chain with total value Rub 25.6bln, including debt. To finance the deal the company offered 38.75mln shares, each Rub 391 worth, and raised a 4.5bln rubles loan. The major shareholder Merkuriy participated in follow-on offering.

Victoria operates 257 stores in Central and North-Western federal districts, as well as in Kaliningrad region, but only 35 of them will change their name in 2011 (with Rub 1mln investment pro each store). The significant part of integration expenses will fall on 2012. The expected earnings in 2011 will amount to Rub 34bln. The consolidated turnover of Dixy Group will reach approximately Rub 115bln.

Source: www.retail.ru

Russian Retail Turnover Growth Fell to 5.5% in May

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According to Rosstat (Russian Federal Statistics service) in May 2011 Russian retail trade growth fell from 5.6% in April to 5.5%. In Rub terms the growth rate made 1trln 525.4bln. In May the turnover grew by 2.4%. The share of food items, including drinks and tobacco, amounted to 48.3% (48.9% in May 2010), non-food items occupied 51.7% of the total retail turnover (51.1% in May 2010). Trade companies and individual entrepreneurs generated 88.8% of retail turnover. The share of retail markets and fairs was 11.2% (in May 2010 87.9% and 12.1% respectively).

During the first five months of 2011 retail turnover grew by 5.2% y-o-y and reached Rub 7trln 182.4bln.

Source: www.retail.ru

Finnish Sok Retail Int. Oy to Open 4 New Supermarkets in St. Petersburg

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Sok Retail Int. Oy is part of the Finnish S-Group, which operates retail chains Prisma, Sale, SMarket and Sokos, Holiday Club, Radisson SAS hotels. To date the company runs 5 chain stores  Prisma in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. Sok Retail Int. Oy is planning to invest Eur 100mln in 4 new supermarkets in St. Petersburg, housed by Adamant Holding Company. As per experts’ estimates, Sok Retail will acquire up to 50,000 sq m of sales area. Prices in Prisma are higher than in local supermarkets, but consumers are attracted by the range of Finnish products, which normally can be purchased only in Finland.

Source: www.retail.ru

Russian Companies Form RFID Joint Venture

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Russian nanotechnology company Rusnano, along with Sitronics, a Russian electronics company, and X5 Retail Group, Russia’s largest retailer, have joined in an agreement to bring radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies to Russia’s retail industry.

According to an announcement of the agreement, the new joint venture will not only introduce the technology, but will also develop standards and practices for the commercialization of the technology in Russia. The goal of the joint venture is to open Russa’s first “model grocery store for the future” by 2013 based on X5’s retail platform to demonstrate the viability and RFID.

RFID tags are commonly used by many retail companies around the world such as The Home Depot and Walmart to help with inventory and logistics.

The initial budget for the project is 350 million RUB (US$12.5 million) shared equally by the three participants over two years.

Source: www.freshplaza.com