Russian media discovered today that on the official website of Zara there is a schedule for stores in the Russian Federation for the month of May. From this, the press (Lenta, Komsomolskaya Pravda and others) and social networks concluded that the network will resume its activities in Russia in the near future. Fans of the brand did not have time to rejoice, as Zara representatives denied the news. According to RIA Novosti, they disclosed the information published on the site about the opening hours of the stores as a technical malfunction. The brand’s hotline announced that there is no data on the opening of stores yet.

New Zara collections are presented on the brand’s Russian website, but the product cannot be ordered, and an announcement is posted on the main page about the “temporary suspension” of sales, both offline and online.

In early March, the Spanish company Inditex, which also owns the Zara brand, announced that it was suspending its work in Russia in connection with the Russian military special operation in Ukraine. Inditex also includes the brands Bershka, Pull & Bear, Oysho, Stradivarius, Zara Home, Uterqüe.

Soon, the management hinted that the Russians should not say goodbye to the products of these brands altogether. On April 20, media reported that Inditex CEO Oscar Garcia Maceiras said that the company is monitoring the situation in Ukraine and plans to return to the Russian market “as soon as possible and if conditions permit”.

Today, information has also emerged that OBI hypermarkets in the country will reopen until May 11. According to TASS, OBI Khodynskoye Pole will open in Moscow on April 27, and before the end of the May holidays “all hypermarkets of the chain are planned to open.” According to Vedomosti, the German owners of the network signed an agreement on the implementation of the Russian business with an investor who will develop the company in the Russian Federation, most likely with the gradual abandonment of the OBI trademark.