The Spanish company Inditex, the parent company of popular fast-fashion brand Zara, had shut down its operations in Ukraine two years ago in the wake of the Russian invasion. However, according to a report by Financial Times (FT), the company is now planning to re-establish its presence in Ukraine, starting from the beginning of April.
In an update to local landlords of their business premises, Inditex has indicated its intent to reopen its stores in Ukraine. The company operates a multitude of brands including Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, and Bershka, in addition to Zara, and owns more than 80 stores in Ukraine. The company aims to reopen 50 of these stores.
However, the FT report notes that some of the stores that remain closed are situated in southern and eastern Ukraine. These areas are under Russian occupation, and commercial operations have been banned there by the Ukrainian government.
The reopening process will be initiated with 20 stores in Kyiv’s shopping centers, which will include three Zara stores. The exact timeline for the reopening of all 50 stores remains undefined as per Inditex’s communication with FT.
Inditex had initially closed its Ukrainian store on February 24, 2022. While the company had ceased the delivery of goods to Ukraine, it continued to pay taxes and salaries to its Ukrainian employees even after its departure, as mentioned in the FT report.
Post the onset of the war, several major Western brands had suspended their operations in both Russia and Ukraine. However, many of these brands have already resumed their operations in Ukraine. An example of this is the Swedish clothing giant H&M, which had eight stores in Ukraine prior to the war and resumed its operations in the country last November.
Inditex, on the other hand, had 500 stores in Russia, which it closed soon after the war began. Last year, it sold about half of its Russian stores to Daher Group, a company registered in the United Arab Emirates.
