Starting next year, IKEA intends to resume the construction of Mega and IKEA shopping centers, said Armin Mikaeli, CEO of IKEA Shopping Centers. The first could be Mega Mytishchi, which may open in 2018. While the Swedish company continues negotiations with the local administration, discussing co-financing the construction of the metro and road infrastructure, Mikaeli said. There are no final agreements. Voronezh is also on the agenda, where IKEA may open in 2018, and Mega - a year or two later,
The Swedish company in recent years did not open new stores in Russia and was focused on the development of old ones. In 2011, the suspension of the development of Mega shopping centers was announced at that time by the director general of the Russian division of IKEA, Per Wendschlag. Prior to this, the company announced a freeze on investment in Russia because of the “unpredictable nature of administrative procedures in a number of regions,” and also because it faced “tolerance for corruption” among its own employees. Now IKEA believes that cooperation with officials has become more constructive: “We have improved ourselves, and support from the authorities has also improved,” Mikaeli said.
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