OREANDA-NEWS. December 3, 2007. The Ukrainian retailers continue to conquer Moldova: Following Furshet and Velyka Kishenia supermarkets chains, Foxtrot, the largest Ukrainian seller of consumer electronics and household appliances, entered the retail market of Moldova. According to UFC-Capital,  Alexei Pavlenko, chief executive of Foxtrot, says that the first store of the company was opened in Moldova on November 22: "We do as everybody does. The companies that are willing to actively grow do it for account of external markets. Eldorado did it and we do it, i.e. we enter the international markets. By April 2008, the network will include three more stores. Besides, "Foxtrot. Household Appliances" purchased a controlling interest in Pingo Group (Moldova), which owns three stores under Elephant TM. Our goals are rather ambitious: to take the second place, as minimum, by the end of the financial year and the first place -- within the next three years," Mr Pavlenko said. Earlier on, the Ukrainian businessmen claimed that they are going to invest $0.5-1 mn into each Moldavian-based supermarket opening. Taking into account that all trading space under FoxMart was leased for a long period of time, the amount does not exceed the previously announced one. According to Mr Pavlenko, the Elefant chain will preserve its name: "While by its turnover it occupied the fifth place in the Moldavian market, we will push it up to the third place, as minimum, within the next three months."

As compared with the Ukrainian market of consumer electronics and household appliances the Moldova's market is very shallow. The CEO of Foxtrot estimates it at approximately $150–200 million a year, while the Ukrainian market is estimated at $3 billion: "however, if you add IT, photo cameras and digital devices, the market capacity will increase twofold to $6 billion."