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| Russia's first Wallyworld in St. Pete's? |
| 2004-09-17 |
| Complete text of a short item from today's RFE/RL newsline, bottom of the "Russia" page. U.S. retail behemoth Wal-Mart intends to open a 20,000 square-meter store in St. Petersburg next year, Interfax reported on 16 September and "The Moscow Times" reported on 17 September. The daily quoted St. Petersburg Economic Development Committee Chairman Vladimir Bank as saying, "I have such information but am not ready to talk in more detail about the opening of Wal-Mart." An unnamed source told Interfax that the company has already begun recruiting employees in St. Petersburg and is in the process of selecting a site for the store, which would be the first Wal-Mart in Russia. Wal-Mart spokesman Bill Wertz told "The Moscow Times" that the company cannot comment on the report, but said Wal-Mart has had "a team in Russia looking at possibilities." According to the daily, the company's 2003 revenues were $256 billion, about three times the revenues of the Russian federal budget. Ouch |
| Posted by:The Caucasus Nerd |