Retail Trade in Russia

The first recognizable self-service supermarket chain opened in 1994. Subsequently hypermarkets, discounters and cash&carry formats were introduced in quick succession. The 1998 economic crisis was a major influence in the birth and rise of discount chains.

According to estimates, the share of modern self-service formats in Russia is about 50% in 2010[21], with most of the additional market share being taken from open markets.

Retail trade has also demonstrated very solid growth rates. Over the last five years, its real growth has significantly surpassed the real growth of the GDP. In 2006 the total retail trade turnover was estimated at US$317 billion by the Russian State Statistics Committee.

The retail growth story was playing out well when the financial crisis struck. The recession, which saw the economy contract by 7.9% in 2009, was particularly bad for consumer-dependent sectors such as retail. The Russian government stepped in at the right time to help the retail sector, though the intervention was limited in scale compared to other major industries such as oil and natural gas, and mining. Russia’s largest food retailer, X5 Retail Group, received a loan from the government to the tune of $255 million to tide over the crisis. Magnit, another food retailer, also availed itself of a $91 million[22] credit line from a government-owned bank. Management consultants A.T. Kearney acknowledged the recovery in the industry, when it ranked Russia second in the Global Retail Development Index in 2009.

Though the retail sector does not have any government-owned companies, the segment witnessed some hectic corporate activity, with the country’s biggest food retailer X5 Retail Group taking over smaller rival Kopeika for $1.65 billion. [23]The acquisition was a small step in consolidating the country’s highly fragmented retail sector.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-18