“End of the Ukrainian adventure”

Praktiker is taking leave of Ukraine. Armin Burger, chairman of the German DIY retail group, explained at a press conference that “we want to end our Ukrainian adventure no later than the end of this year”. According to his statement, “other countries and country structures are under scrutiny as well”. But Hungary does not seem to belong to this group at present. Here the company has just inaugurated two small-format stores to trial a new concept intended to open up rural areas. By contrast, as already reported, it is already withdrawing from Luxembourg and Turkey. Burger explained that the reason for his company’s withdrawal from Turkey is not a negative estimate of the market potential there, but rather unsatisfactory market positioning at present and a store portfolio “that fell short of Turkish requirements”. The chairman does not rule out returning at some later point.