Russian business OBI went to a new owner for 600 rubles

Businessman Josef Liokumovich, who received a controlling stake in the Russian business OBI (60%), in an interview with Forbes toldthat bought it for 600 rubles. Who became the owner of the remaining 40% is not specified. Liokumovich stressed that this is a non-public partner from Russia.

“Yes, 600 rubles. Before the pandemic, it was about €100 million. It cannot be said that this business has gone for nothing. Now there are circumstances that have changed a lot. You need to invest a lot in this business, put things in order. This is an economically healthy, wonderful company, but it needs to be put on its feet,” he said, answering a question about the cost of the 27 OBI hypermarkets he got in Russia. According to him, the company’s losses last year amounted to 2.5 billion rubles. She was also affected by downtime for a month and a half.

The fact that the deal to sell the Russian business of OBI was closed and Liokumovich becomes the owner of the controlling stake in the network, Vedomosti wrote on July 30. According to Vedomosti sources, 40% was to be received by the group of investment and construction companies Max (GISK Max).

Liokumovich also clarified that the Russian division had a debt of over 30 million euros to the parent company, but it was settled. “There are also lawsuits for debts from Russian companies that were filed before my arrival. We deal with them; many of the contracts that led to the lawsuits were entered into against the interests of our company,” he claims.

OBI has been operating in Russia since 2003. Now the network includes 27 hypermarkets and about 4,900 employees. On March 17, the German OBI GmH announced the suspension of stores in Russia and in April announced the transfer of the Russian business to trust management, after which, in late April – early May, OBI outlets resumed work in Russia.

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