Inditex, the Zara owner that is selling its business in Russia, said it remained willing to return to the country if “the situation changed” as it unveiled a €1.6bn investment plan aimed in part at conquering the ultra-competitive US market.
Óscar García, chief executive of the world’s biggest fashion retailer, said that while it is offloading its 502 stores in Russia — once Inditex’s second biggest market after Spain — it retained the option to return in partnership with the Middle Eastern acquirer.
Following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Spanish group said last October that it would sell the Russia business, which employed 9,000 people, to the Daher Group of the United Arab Emirates. García said on Wednesday that “the process is still progressing”.