H&M made an advance payment for the lease of retail space in Moscow almost a year in advance

Clothing retailer H&M, which has announced it is pulling out of the Russian market, has paid nine months in advance the rent for its flagship store in Moscow. About it writes “Kommersant” with reference to two sources in the fashion market.

We are talking about the shopping area in the gallery “Actor” on Tverskaya street. According to one of the sources, the lease amount was at least 150 million rubles.

Another interlocutor claims that the company also paid all fines and penalties for non-commercial activities and late opening of a store in Moscow’s Columbus shopping center. It is specified that the amount of claims could amount to 250 million rubles.

The source says that H&M did this to be able to reopen the store in the mall. The company declined to comment. Gallery “Actor” and the shopping center “Columbus” also did not answer the questions of the newspaper.

The head of the CORE.XP retail department, Marina Malakhatko, admitted that the company hopes to find a buyer for the Russian part of the business or is waiting for a scheme to appear that allows you to stay in the country, as did the Polish LPP.

At the end of July, Kommersant found outthat H&M is looking for buyers for its business in Russia. This information was also confirmed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. According to the newspaper, the assets put up for sale include a portfolio of lease rights for about 170 stores in 65 Russian cities, a distribution center with an area of ​​57,700 sq. m and stocks of goods for 30 weeks, the cost of which is estimated at $ 210 million.

H&M has suspended work in Russia after the start of a Russian special operation in Ukraine. On July 18, the company announced its final withdrawal from the country. There was also information that the retailer will open its stores in early August to sell off the remaining clothes.

On August 2, the company’s stores began their work in the Aviapark and Metropolis shopping centers. On August 18, the H&M press office reported that 118 out of about 120 stores have now reopened.

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