‘We have been cooperating with two federal grocery retailers, that is, Ramstore and Grossmart, as well as with most Yekaterinburg-based retail chains, excluding Kupets, and are currently in the middle of negotiations with Kupets and Auchan,’ Deputy CEO for Economics and Commerce of Good Taste Meatpacking Plant Elena Shanina said to UrBC.

‘We don’t do business with Metro Cash and Carry because we were unable to reach a suitable agreement at the time, and we never tried afterwards, since some other producers had problems supplying goods to Metro,’ Ms Shanina noted.

‘We have never been faced with the retailers’ demands not to cooperate with any other chains. Our experience with Chelyabinsk-based stores was rather negative; one chain, for example, asked for a ?10,000 facilitation payment as a fee for entering their business,’ Ms Shanina said.