Moscow, 20 February 2026 – X5 (“X5”, MOEX: “X5”), a leading Russian food retailer, announces the opening of the 5,000th store under its Okolo franchise. The milestone store, spanning 130 sq m, is located at 12 Bakunina Street in Smolensk. It represents the 964th facility reconstructed under X5’s COOP Okolo programme, which is driving the large-scale modernisation of the consumer cooperation trade system.
“The Okolo franchise is gaining rapid traction among independent entrepreneurs. Its success stems from a powerful combination: comprehensive franchisee support paired with surging demand for the convenience-store format, which has become central to the growing ‘quick commerce’ consumer trend. Our partners have embraced the OKOLO.Market online platform, which served 392,000 customers in 2025. The platform now provides access to over 35,000 products from 186 suppliers – 173 of whom offer a unique assortment that is not available in X5 retail chain stores. The platform features built-in feedback tools that prompt continuous service improvements, which enabled OKOLO.Market to secure a strong second place in NPS amongst Russia’s largest B2B platforms at the end of 2025,” said Igor Pletnev, Managing Director of Okolo.
The Okolo franchise is built on partnerships with experienced entrepreneurs who already operate retail businesses. Currently, Okolo-branded stores can be found in 51 Russian regions: Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kurgan, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan, Samara, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, Ulyanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl regions; the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg; Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorye, and Trans-Baikal territories; and the republics of Adygeya, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Chuvashia, Karelia, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, and Udmurtia.