IKEA is Getting Ready to Double its Presence in the Urals

13.05.2009 — News

THE TYUMEN OBLAST.

The Swedish company IKEA is going to build the second multifunctional centre in the Urals. The Tyumen project cost is estimated at 300 million Euro.

The IKEA store, a hypermarket, a selection of stores, restaurants, an indoor ice-skating rink will occupy the area of 100 thousand square metres. During their visit to Tyumen the leaders of the company were given a choice of several possible locations for the centre by the regional Government; the plot will be leased under a long term contract.

The IKEA Russia and CIS Press Service informed RusBusinessNews that the issues on the construction options, connection of utilities, organization of access roads with regard to the proposed areas are being studied now; the project itself is currently at the stage of the feasibility study. At the same time the negotiations are being held regarding the implementation of the IKEA Group's production project in the region.

ArborIshimLes, a "daughter" of the Swedish company, won an open auction in August 2008 for the right of long-term (49 years) lease of the timberland with the total area 70 thousand hectares in the Ishim district of the Tyumen Oblast. IKEA will be able to log 208 thousand cubic metres annually. At the first stage the company was planning to build a saw-mill, and by 2012 to construct the plant for the production of furniture board and components for making furniture with the annual processing capacity of 100-150 thousand cubic metres of timber.

The first centre with IKEA's involvement in the Urals was opened in October 2006. About 15 million US dollars was spent on the construction of Ekaterinburg centre MEGA. Besides Tyumen, IKEA is also considering Ufa, Perm, and Chelyabinsk as possible options to open the IKEA centres.