The Russian premium grocery retailer Azbuka Vkusa is planning to launch in Kyiv this year. this will be its first store in Ukraine. Staff recruitment is currently under way. Azbuka Vkusa originally planned to enter Ukraine in 2007, but the economic recession put its expansion plans on hold.

Azbuka Vkusa supermarkets occupy between 600 and 1,100 m², and one opening needs an investment of around $4m. The company was founded in 1997 and is owned by Gorodskoy Supermarket. Today, it operates 52 stores in Moscow, Moscow Province and St. Petersburg. Its revenues in 2011 were approximately RUB 21.6bn ($717m).

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