IKEA Leaving Russia "Factory Sale Agreement Within This Year"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Sweden's IKEA, the world's largest furniture company, will finalize the sale contract of its Russian factory within days and completely withdraw from the Russian market.

On the 28th (local time), Denis Manturov, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade, said in an interview with TASS news agency that "IKEA aims to reach a basic agreement with the buyer or buyers by the end of this year."

IKEA halted furniture production in Russia in March, immediately after the outbreak of the Ukraine war, and closed 17 stores and corporate offices. It also laid off 15,000 local employees.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Neither the Russian government nor IKEA disclosed the identity of the buyer of the factory.

In a press release, IKEA confirmed that "the sale of the Russian factory is proceeding according to plan," but stated that "to carry out the sale process properly, it was agreed with the buyers not to disclose related details."

Earlier, when announcing its withdrawal from the Russian business, IKEA had stated that it would complete the factory sale by next year.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Western countries have imposed strong sanctions on Russia, leading to a series of withdrawals of major global companies from Russia.

The number of global companies leaving Russia, ranging from automobile and energy firms to food and clothing chains, is reported to be close to 1,500 at most.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.