Zara to Reopen Stores in Ukraine After Two-Year Absence
According to Financial Times, the Zara store network is preparing to return to the Ukrainian market, closing its establishments after the start of the war two years ago. Inditex, the Spanish owner of Zara, plans to reopen about 50 of its 80+ stores in Ukraine, which is planned to be done at the beginning of April.
It is worth reminding that in February 2022, on the day of the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Inditex closed its 84 stores in Ukraine, including brands such as Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, and Bershka. Since then, the company has stopped supplying goods to Ukraine but continued to pay taxes and salaries to its 1000 Ukrainian employees, most of whom remained unemployed. Inditex maintained lease agreements when closing stores but did not disclose the conditions.
It is worth noting that in November of last year, H&M stores resumed operations in Ukraine. Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba stated that the department is working on the return of IKEA, H&M, Zara, and other brands to Ukraine.
