IKEA Plans to Raise Local Furniture Purchases to US$400 Million by

Emerging Markets Economy, Apr 8, 2003

IKEA, the Swedish furniture company, has announced that it has signed an agreement which will allow it to raise its annual purchases from Russian furniture and wood-processing industries from US$60 million to US$400 million by 2007.

The agreement was signed during a recent summit between Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, and Gerhard Schroeder, the German Chancellor in Weimar, Germany. The deal was signed between IKEA Germany GmbH&Co/KG, the mother company of IKEA Russia, and the Russian Industry, Science and Technology Ministry, according to the Moscow Times.

IKEA is one of the world's top furniture retailers. IKEA International sells Scandinavian-style home furnishings and other household equipment in 160 huge stores in over 30 countries. In order to cut transportation costs, IKEA uses flat packaging, and customers assemble the products at home. IKEA first started operating in Sweden in 1943. (EMEconomy.com)