Doha, 17 October 2025 – X5 Import, X5’s dedicated direct import business unit, has held its first international supplier conference, Bridge to Connect, in Doha, Qatar. The event focused on X5 Import’s strategic development priorities and long-term partnerships with foreign suppliers. The conference name, Bridge to Connect, reflects its core objective: to build “partnership bridges” between businesses. The event brought together more than 150 guests from 50 countries.
At the conference, Vladimir Salakhutdinov, Deputy CEO of X5, provided an overview of the Company’s strategic priorities and values, as well as international retail trends. Denis Tkach, Managing Director of X5 Import, presented the business arm’s new strategic vision, positioning it as a multi-category import distributor. The division will focus on importing products in categories where it holds deep expertise, while also elevating its level of service and quality. X5 Import will also handle final product preparation and packaging, provide logistics services, operate a B2B platform, and supply raw materials to Russian manufacturers. The business division’s recently launched external sales channel now enables its international partners to distribute their products beyond X5’s own retail chains to the wider Russian retail and HoReCa market.
“Over more than six years of operation, X5 Import has evolved into one of Russia’s leading importers. We have accumulated vast experience in selecting the right products, understanding market trends and consumer demand, and managing international shipping and payments. This empowers us to work effectively with a wide range of product categories and a diverse client base. That’s why expanding our external sales beyond the X5 network has become a key strategic priority this year,” said Denis Tkach, Managing Director of X5 Import.
The conference also featured presentations by heads of the commercial divisions of X5’s Pyaterochka and Perekrestok retail chains. They outlined their principles of collaboration and development strategies for the coming years, paying particular attention to Russian consumer demand for various categories of imported goods. In addition, the speaker lineup included a number of X5’s foreign suppliers, who shared their experiences of partnering with X5 and other global retail players.