Founder of Ikea Believes in Russia's Potential

By 2005 Swedish Ikea furniture company will have at least 5 department stores open in Russia. As a Rosbalt correspondent reports, this was announced in Stockholm by founder of Ikea Ingvar Kamprad, talking about his recent visit to Russia.

Mr Kamprad visited a number of large cities in Russia including Novosibirsk and Saint Petersburg. He said that the third Ikea department store would already be open in 2003 in Moscow. Residents of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region will also be able to buy Ikea products from December 2003 as construction of the fourth department store is already underway in this region. Ikea is planning to open the fifth department store in Yekaterinburg by 2005. According to current estimates, the total annual turnover of the five Ikea department stores in 2005 will be USD 400-430 million.

Mr Kamprad emphasised that Ikea still plans to construct about 15 department stores in Russia. The founder of Ikea said he hopes that Russia will become a supplier of raw materials and furniture goods for Ikea department stores in various countries of the world.

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