Auchan Ukraine plans to fit all its stores in country with generators, mini power plants

MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Auchan Ukraine intends to equip all stores of the retail chain in the country with power generators and mini power plants, whereas six Auchan stores in the capital Kiev are already fully autonomous in terms of power supply.

"Our goal is to make all stores autonomous. Diesel generators and mini power plants are already on the way. They will be installed in stores of all formats, including small ones," Ukrainian media said, citing the Auchan Ukraine press service.

Six of the retail chain's stores in Kiev - Auchan Bilychi, Auchan Williams, Auchan Kirillovskaya, Auchan Rive Gauche, Auchan Sosninykh, and Auchan Lybedskaya - have already become completely autonomous in terms of power supply, the company said.

The operations of five other Auchan stores are limited - customers can buy there any goods other than those stored in the fridge. They are the Auchan Glushkova, Auchan Lugovaya, Auchan Koltsevaya, Auchan Pochainaya, and Auchan Chernigovskaya stores.

At this point, the Auchan Darnitsa and Auchan Pravdy supermarkets in Kiev are open only when they have electricity, it said.

"We are making every effort to equip them with autonomous power generation," the company said.

Auchan Retail is an international retail group, which opened its first store in France in 1961.

Auchan Ukraine Hypermarket LLC began operating in Ukraine in 2008. According to data from the Auchan website, before the crisis, the retail chain had more than 30 stores of different formats (hypermarkets, supermarkets, pick-up points) in nine cities of the country and was also engaged in developing e-commerce.