Zara parent company Inditex is selling its entire Russian business. This transaction will “enable the preservation of a significant number of jobs” created by Inditex in Russia, the Spanish textile group announced on Tuesday. The buyer, a group called Vom, is based in the United Arab Emirates and is primarily active in the retail and real estate sectors, it said on request. The value of the deal was not disclosed. A return of the group to Russia cannot be ruled out if “new circumstances arise” in the future, emphasized Inditex.
Inditex had already suspended operations in the Russian Federation until further notice at the beginning of March, shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, and closed all 502 stores there. Online sales in Russia were also stopped.
Until this measure, Russia had been Inditex’s largest market worldwide after Spain. According to its own statements, the group of the 86-year-old founder and owner Amancio Ortega recently achieved 8.5 percent of total earnings before interest and taxes. In addition to Zara, the group’s brands also include Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Zara Home and Bershka.
In its message to the Spanish stock exchange supervisory authority CNMV on March 5, Inditex emphasized that the group’s greatest concern after the closures was the more than 9,000 employees in Russia that it wanted to take care of. (dpa)