PUD of food in Zaporozhye – Newspaper Kommersant No. 165 (7366) of 09/08/2022
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Russian retailers are beginning to be interested in ways to expand their business to the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. As Kommersant found out, the largest grocery chain in Crimea, PUD (“Products at Home”), associated with the structures of the ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev, is looking for managers to select premises in these regions. Taking into account the limited potential of the Crimean market, the presence of own agricultural enterprises and well-organized logistics, entering a virtually empty market is logical, experts say.
The management company of the PUD chain of stores in Crimea has begun searching for managers to select real estate in Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to open retail outlets. The corresponding vacancies appeared in the PUD profile on the HeadHunter portal at the end of August, Kommersant discovered. The candidate’s responsibilities include finding premises, evaluating technical characteristics, preparing documents for drawing up sales contracts, leases, etc.
The correspondent of “Kommersant” who introduced himself as an applicant was confirmed in the PUD that the candidate would have to travel to the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions with the leadership of the network to select premises.
A Kommersant source in a large Russian agricultural producer also spoke about the interest of the PUD in entering these regions. However, according to him, the company’s stores in these territories may open under a different sign.
PUD — the largest retail chain in the Crimea, includes more than 130 stores. In 2021, the revenue of PUD LLC increased by almost 15%, to 19.24 billion rubles, net profit increased by about 28.3%, to 1.77 billion rubles. Previously, the network was managed by the Ukrainian “ATB-Market”, and in 2017 it became known that the network was transferred under the control of structures close to the ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev, the owner of the Agrocomplex. N. I. Tkachev – a major producer of milk, meat, sugar, etc.
The Agrocomplex told Kommersant that the PUD is looking for employees in the Crimea and neighboring regions for development on the peninsula itself. The PUD office did not provide a comment.
After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, significant parts of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions came under the control of Russian troops. Kommersant’s sources said back in June that companies from Crimea can now supply products to these regions. In Akimovka, Melitopol district of Zaporozhye, a supermarket was opened at the end of May, managed by management from the Crimea, the administration of the village reported. But specific retailers planning expansion have not been known so far.
PUD has a base for possible expansion into neighboring regions.
In May, the network operating company became the owner of the parent structure of the Crimean agricultural holding Druzhba Narodov, which includes poultry complexes, pig farms, a meat processing plant, orchards, etc. PUD also plans to launch the largest wholesale distribution center in Crimea with an area of 56 thousand square meters in 2023 . m with a storage capacity of 75 thousand tons of products.
Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of Infoline-analytics, notes that PUD has been developing very aggressively in Crimea over the past year, but given the decline in tourist flow on the peninsula, it will be difficult to maintain momentum. And the “neighboring territories”, the expert emphasizes, are actually an empty market where new construction is planned and there is already a ruble zone, therefore, given the strong logistics competencies and own agricultural enterprises, access to these regions for PUD is justified.
The largest retail chains do not comment on the issue.
According to Kommersant’s sources, federal companies are not considering opening stores in Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
But the director of the Union of Independent Networks of Russia (SNSR) Ivan Babukhadze says that they see potential in the development of retail trade in the regions, the members of the SNSR had experience in purchasing agricultural products grown here.
According to Mr. Babukhadze, at the current stage, most likely, we can talk about renting premises for shops under individual brands, and interest is primarily expected from businesses that are not afraid or have already fallen under sanctions. Mr. Tkachev has been under EU sanctions since 2014, when he was governor of the Krasnodar Territory. Egor Redin, Managing Partner at Position of Law law firm, adds that it is logical to use separate legal entities in the format of closed joint stock companies or closed mutual funds to do business in Crimea and neighboring regions.
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