Moscow, 4 May 2026 – Х5 (the “Company”, MOEX ticker: X5) has announced the acquisition of VKT, one of the largest food distributors in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and the Volga area. The transaction will accelerate the growth of X5’s Okolo franchise network in the region and expand the product offering for franchisees. VKT’s product range includes more than 5,000 SKUs and covers up to 80% of the assortment on the shelves of independent stores in the Volga Federal District.
“The acquisition of a distribution business in one of our strategically important regions will significantly enrich the product offering for our partners, including through high-quality products manufactured in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. We see a strong potential for synergy from integration with robust regional distributors and are considering various flexible partnership models. Alongside acquisitions, these include master franchise arrangements and the establishment of joint ventures,” commented Igor Pletnev, Managing Director of Okolo at X5.
The Okolo franchise targets experienced entrepreneurs who already operate a retail business. The Okolo mobile app and the OKOLO.Market website operate under a unique B2B classified model, enabling franchisees to order products in one place both from X5 and from independent sellers. The platform already hosts more than 450 independent suppliers, who offer more than 35,000 products across 70 regions of Russia.
There are currently 5,996 Okolo-branded stores operating in 53 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; Altai, Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorye, and Trans-Baikal territories; and the republics of Adygeya, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Chuvashia, Karelia, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, and Udmurtia.
In 2025, the Okolo chain ranked first among the largest FMCG franchises by revenue, according to a ranking by the INFOLine analytical agency.