IKEA looks to Northern Norway; halts investment in Russia
IKEA, the world’s biggest home-furnishings retailer, will halt future investment plans in Russia until “key issues” affecting operations are resolved. At the same time, the furniture giant is searching for locations for its first store in Northern Norway.
While IKEA will finish current projects, “further investments will be temporarily halted,” the company’s Russia chief Per Kaufmann said Tuesday,Moscow Times reports.
As BarentsObserver reported, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad said in an interview that IKEA has been “cheated” out of 1.5 billion SEK (190 million USD) in gas and electricity bills. Russian suppliers have failed to fulfill their contractual obligations to provide electricity at IKEA’s 11 Russian stores, forcing the company to buy its own generators and shoulder a significant increase in operating costs, Kamprad said.
According to Moscow Times, IKEA has faced at least four disputes with authorities while opening 11 stores since first entering Russia in March 2000.
The furniture giant is now searching for suitable locations for its first store in Northern Norway, NRK reports. Since 2005, 30 000 people in Northern Norway have signed a petition for the opening of an IKEA department in the region. IKEA’s only current store in the Barents Region is located in the Swedish town Haparanda, adjacent to the Finnish town Tornio.
