Jan Dunning, CEO of St Petersburg-headquartered hypermarket chain Lenta, says the situation in Ukraine has had no impact on the group, as consumer confidence remains unaffected in Russia.
The breakaway of Crimea from Ukraine marked a key pressure point in the crisis, after the region’s residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining Russia.
Dunning said that consumer demand in Russia was unaffected by the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, but that Western sanctions on the country had weakened the rouble. Over the year-to-date, the dollar has risen almost 8.5 percent against the Russian currency. As a result, Lenta was looking to source products from within Russia, or from China.
Also on Thursday, Lenta reported robust sales growth of 37.3 percent for the first quarter, during which the chain opened two new hypermarkets. Dunning said Lenta’s expansion plans were undeterred by the Ukraine-Russia turmoil, with plans to open 24 hypermarkets and 15 supermarkets in 2014.