Ukrainian business stepping up operations in Romania

MOSCOW. Oct 7 (Interfax) - The Aurora One Dollar Store, a Ukrainian retail chain, has grown to 25 stores and has served over 1 million clients over 12 months of operations in Romania, Ukrainian media said, citing Aurora CEO Taras Panasenko's statement on a social network.

"Our first store opened in Suceava exactly one year ago. Now we have 25 stores here in addition to eight to be opened shortly. We have served over 1 million clients in Romania over the year, [...] and 98% of them are locals," Panasenko said.

The business in Romania is far from being profitable, "because the product still needs to be scaled up and fine-tuned, but we keep growing both quantitatively and qualitatively," he said.

In Romania, Aurora's NPS (Net Promoter Score, an index for determining consumer loyalty to a brand), measured by an independent marketing agency, is higher than in Ukraine (86).

"We are the first case in the history of independent Ukraine when a systemic retailer has successfully scaled up in the EU," he said.

Aurora was founded by Lev Zhidenko, Taras Panasenko and Lesya Klimenko in 2011. The company, headquartered in Poltava, operates a network of 1,528 stores in Ukraine and 25 in Romania.

According to Opendatabot, Cyprus-based Auroretail Investments Limited is the owner developing Real Bargain LLC, and Zhidenko is its beneficiary. The Cypriot-based company also owns Prior Development LLC, Seven A LLC, Promyshlennaya, 9 LLC and Da LLC.

In 2023, the chain posted net profit of 4.1 billion hryvni and net income of 27 billion hryvni.