Wal-Mart Eyes Russia For Expansion

From the Moscow Times:

The long-awaited entry of a global retail giant into the Russian market appeared to inch closer as a senior executive for Wal-Mart hinted of an expansion into Russia and reports surfaced that the U.S. firm was planning talks with X5, Russia’s biggest food retailer.

“So far, we are currently studying the market, but the decision on how to enter it has not yet been made,” Wal-Mart vice president Mike Bratcher told a Moscow conference Thursday, Interfax reported.

Kommersant reported Jan. 29 that officials from X5 and Wal-Mart were due to hold talks in the United States last week. Wal-Mart could not be reached to confirm these reports.

The food retail market, though it accounts for less than 2 percent of GDP, has seen annual growth of more than 25 percent since 2001. At a time when Russian portfolio investors are getting tired of the instability in the country’s core oil market, the consumer sector’s steady growth has been a welcome source of relief.

• Click here to learn more about Wal-Mart’s international expansion.

Posted by Russ Fagaly on Monday, February 12, 2007