Even before the US presidential election raised hopes of warmer ties with the Kremlin, some big Western companies were betting Russia’s economy will soon come out of the deep freeze.
Big retailers like Sweden’s Ikea Group and France’s Leroy Merlin have begun pumping billions of dollars in new stores and factories, counting on Russia’s consumers to start emerging from hibernation after two years of recession.
Ikea is putting $1.6bn into new stores over the next five years or so. Leroy Merlin in September announced a €2bn plan to more than double the number of outlets in Russia over the same period. Pfizer …read more
Source: Gulf times
