25 Febuary 2009
Sources close to Russian retailer Mosmart have alleged that the medium sized retailer is unofficially bankrupt. Mosmart recently closed some of its hypermarkets and is going to sell them. It has also reportedly delayed payments to employees and suppliers. As result, some brands are missing from the shelves. The retailer was already facing a number of financial problems in the second half of the last year. In November 2008, it sold all its 54 Mosmartik convenience stores in order to gain funds to refinance its debts. By the end of the year, it operated around 15 hypermarkets and superstores in Moscow and big regional cities, and a few Mosmart Express supermarkets. Other stores in Central and Southern Russia were under construction. Some of the Mosmart Express supermarkets have been already bought by Express Retail, a franchisee of X5 Retail Group, and rebranded to the Perekrestok Express banner. Mosmart seems to be the first big victim of the financial crisis in the Russian market but further medium sized retailers are likely to follow.