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this month due to supply issues. In Russia, Vkusno & Tochka has acquired the outlets previously operated as McDonald's restaurants. Bloomberg reported earlier in January that, according to its sources, McDonald’s would be exiting Kazakhstan after failing to secure local supplies of meat patties - the Kazakh branch of McDonald's relied on supplies from Russia before the sanctioning of Moscow over the Ukraine war hindered that arrangement. Aset Mashanov, general director of Food Solutions KZ, the Kazakh franchisee of McDonald’s in Kazakhstan, haa told Kazakh media that no final decision has been reached on the future of McDonald’s in Kazakhstan. He has also said the company is working on a local restaurant brand. It could conceivably end up in competition with Vkusno & Tochka.
The Russian division of the Swedish Electrolux will launch its own brand of home appliances Vard in the spring of 2023, after the parent company announced pulling out of Russia amid the fallout from the military invasion of Ukraine, Kommersant daily reported. The new product line is reportedly being developed by specialists from the former Electrolux Service Centre, focusing on the mid-price segment with eventual expansion into the premium segment planned in the future. As followed by bne IntelliNews, following the fallout from Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, Chinese and Turkish brands are taking over the local household appliance market from the traditional leaders Bosch, LG, Samsung and Electrolux. To compete at the market, the Vard team will raise debt financing for the project, but Kommersant sources claim that Electrolux has “severalbn rubles” left in its accounts in Russia, which the company could use to launch production here. Experts surveyed by the daily believe that the new brand is capable of taking up a significant share of the market. "We aim to occupy 2-3% of the domestic market in the next two years," The CEO of the former local Electrolux division Alexey Belyakov told Kommersant. Vard equipment is planned to be produced at Chinese and Turkish factories, then it is planned to expand production to Russian and European factories, as well, he said. "Most likely, the assembly will be carried out at Chinese factories that used to produce Electrolux appliances," unnamed sources told Kommersant.
French sporting goods retailer Decathlon is looking for a buyer for its Russian assets, said RBC business portal citing unnamed market sources. As followed by bne IntelliNews, only one in ten of the major Western companies that promised to pull out of Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine have actually left the country, according to the latest studies. Previously after the fallout from Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine Decathlon shut down 57 of its shops in Russia, with 28 left, and suspended supplies of new goods to the market. The company is now reportedly looking to sell all of its business, including an estimated 0.135mn square metres of commercial real estate. The analysts surveyed by RBC business portal estimate the value of Decathlon’s business in Russia at up to RUB15bn ($217mn), with the potential buyers including retail players, developers and professional retail funds, as
153 RUSSIA Country Report February 2023 www.intellinews.com