On Monday, Invest Plus, a Russian company, stated that it had finalized the purchase of the Novgorod factory, IKEA's largest production facility in Russia. This acquisition comes just over a year after IKEA halted operations in Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Ikea and other Western companies stopped doing business in Russia when soldiers from Moscow entered Ukraine on February 24. Last summer, IKEA briefly restarted internet sales.
"The process of concluding the deal was not easy and quite lengthy," Vadim Osipov, owner of Invest Plus, said in a statement, expressing gratitude to all involved parties, including IKEA, Russian and Swedish authorities, and Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Before working hours, brand owner IKEA Group couldn’t be reached for comment. Previously, it was announced that the four factories in Tikhvin, Novgorod, and Vyatka were being sold.
Osipov, the CEO and co-owner of Slotex, a prominent local maker of laminates and kitchen worktops, owns Invest Plus as a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
Western companies face difficulties making sales to countries that have placed sanctions against Russia as deals require authorization from a government commission.
Russia's industry ministry announced in February that the IKEA plants would be bought by Slotex and Luzales, a lumber producer.
Osipov stated that the factory's core employees had been kept.
Invest Plus stated that it would guarantee job security for at least a year and that full production would restart within the following two to three months.
"Our goal is to return the highly popular and quality production of the Novgorod factory to Russia's furniture market as quickly as possible," Osipov said.