Russian chain plans to open in July


MOSCOW: A new Russian discount retail chain is to open its first store in July, with the former senior Ahold NV executive Luc de Jong at the helm. The new chain, as yet unnamed, is being set up by several former executives at Ahold and by Russian businessmen Sergei Vereshchagin and Oleg Trykin, the main shareholders in the Smart Value chain. "We will open the first shop in July 2008 and then we will build an extensive network across all of Russia," said de Jong, who now works as general director of Smart Value. He said the chain would resemble the C1000 discount chain in the Netherlands, operated by Ahold subsidiary Schuitema.