OBI says stores in Russia to remain closed

MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - German DIY retailer has confirmed that its stores in Russia will remain closed.

"In light of the recent speculations coming from Russia, OBI clearly confirms that all Russian stores will stay closed as announced in our last statement," the company said in a statement.

Earlier in March, OBI announced that it had decided to shut down its stores and operations in Russia. However, on Tuesday the category director of the OBI chain in Russia, Maxim Suravegin said at the DIY Forum that the retailer plans to resume operations.

"Right now we're working on rectifying the technical disruption and our stores will start working in the next 14 days. First in Moscow, then in St. Petersburg and across the whole country," Suravegin was quoted as saying on the forum's Telegram channel.

OBI has 27 stores and 4,900 employees in Russia. The retailer has more than 640 stores in ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including more than 350 in Germany, and 48,000 employees in total. The company's sales in 2021 totaled 8.7 billion euros.