Planet Retail 24 Mar 2010

Carrefour has failed to sell its Russian assets and has abandoned operations in the country, according to press reports from PMR. The owners of premises let to Carrefour have prematurely ended their agreements with the retailer.

Planet Retail weekly bulletin 20 Jan 10

The Russian Parliament has approved a law which it hopes will make pricing more predictable and transparent; boost competition in the retail sector; limit retailers' monopolistic behaviour; and make relations between retailers and suppliers more transparent. The law, which has been five years in the making, will be enforced from February 2010.

fruitnet.com 05 June 2009

Retailers in Russia are bracing themselves for the probably entry of Wal-Mart into the market, after a series of moves that has seen the US giant set down roots in the country.

Planet Retail 14 May 2009

Bulgaria's anti-monopoly commission has launched a probe into six major supermarket chains to see if they pressured suppliers to lower prices, Reuters reported. The regulator said it would investigate whether Metro Group's Metro cash & carries, Schwarz Group's Kaufland, Rewe Group's Billa, Dohle's Hit, Delta M's Piccadilly and Maxima pressured food and consumer goods suppliers to cut prices and accept late payments.

Planet Retail 6 Apr 2009

US retailer Wal-Mart has reopened talks to buy Russian hypermarket chain Lenta, the local press reported. Wal-Mart reportedly wants to buy a controlling stake in the retailer and has spoken to shareholders Oleg Zherebtsov, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Loren Bough, who own 35%, 11% and 6% respectively. In February Zherebtsov began looking for a buyer for his stake.

Planet Retail 18 Feb 2009

Maxima Latvia has begun negotiations with the Latvian Milk Producers Association to support local farmers and offer consumers high quality Latvian-made dairy products. Company spokesman Ivars Andins said the retailer's purchases department has been holding talks on selling dairy products made by local farmers and farming cooperatives directly, so that the retail chain is able to offer an even broader range of products in the near future. Maxima has begun to negotiate with local dairy manufacturers after the Latvian government threatened leading grocery retailers Ahold and Maxima with regulating the retail sector.

Planet Retail 4 Feb 2009

The Latvian government has requested the Ministry of the Economy and the Competition Council to draw up proposals to limit the influence of the major retail chains in Latvia. Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis said that no retail chain in Latvia should have no more than 10% market share. The Economy Ministry and the Competition Council will have to prepare their proposals in a month's time and hand them in to the government. If this is done, it could have a major effect on Dutch Ahold Rimi and Lithuanian Maxima, presently the largest chain stores in Latvia.

Planet Retail 25 Nov 2008

In Hungary, farmers have held a series of demonstrations protesting against the purchasing and payment terms of the country's major grocery retailers. A spokesperson for Hungarian agricultural association MOSZ (Mezogazdasági Szövetkezok és Termelok Országos Szövetsége) confirmed that poultry, dairy and meat producers have staged protests outside supermarket warehouse facilities in three cities - Gyal, Alsonemedi and Budaors. The protests were orchestrated to increase pressure on Hungary's major supermarkets to stock largely Hungarian products, the spokesperson told just-food.com.

www.eastagri.org 

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending EUR 70 million to Serbian retailer IDEA to help the company develop modern retail centres in the smaller towns of Serbia and to strengthen its capital base in order to finance further expansion. 

The Serbian retail sector still underserved and fragmented compared to more mature markets, with only 25 square metres per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the EU average of 270 square metres.

Planet Retail  21 Oct 2008

As reported by Piata, Rewe-owned Billa and SPAR Romania have been fined by the Competition Council ROL2,149,689 (USD849,256) and ROL256,229 (USD101,225) respectively. According to the Council, the sanctioned companies provided incorrect data regarding the absence in their commercial contracts of a client stipulation. This article constrains the supplier to offer the retailer the best price on the market for the contracted goods.