Kazan, 2 March 2026 – X5 (“X5”, MOEX: “X5”), a leading Russian food retailer, announces the opening of the 1,000th store as part of its COOP Okolo network carried out in partnership with the Central Union of Consumer Societies of the Russian Federation (Centrosoyuz), which is driving the large-scale modernisation of the consumer cooperation trade system.
The milestone COOP Okolo store is located in the village of Dubyazy, Vysokogorsky District of the Republic of Tatarstan. The 240 sq m store stocks over 6,000 SKUs, including products from Tatarstan’s local consumer cooperatives union (Tatpotrebsoyuz), goods from local manufacturers, a broad range of household items, and the most popular products from X5’s retail chain assortment.
The opening coincides with the anniversary of trade cooperatives in Russia. Exactly 195 years ago today, on 2 March 1831, the charter of the Great Cooperative (Bolshaya Artel) was formed – the first systematic statement of cooperative principles in Russia that continue to underpin trade cooperatives today: these include voluntary membership, democratic governance, information transparency, shareholder oversight, and mutual assistance.
The opening ceremony of the store was attended by Rustam Minnikhanov, Head of the Republic of Tatarstan; Dmitry Zubov, Chairman of the Board of Centrosoyuz; and Vladimir Salakhutdinov, First Deputy CEO of X5.
“We highly value our cooperation with Russia’s Centrosoyuz and with federal retail chains. Opening new stores in remote settlements in such a modern format improves the quality of life for our citizens and supports consumer cooperatives. In the Republic of Tatarstan, we pay very close attention to preserving and developing the consumer cooperative system. We are very pleased that federal retail networks are developing the local retail infrastructure, and we will continue to support these efforts,” commented Rustam Minnikhanov, Head of the Republic of Tatarstan.
“The opening of the 1,000th COOP Okolo store in Tatarstan not only marks an anniversary – it’s a symbol of shared success. The project became possible through a common understanding of rural development priorities between federal and regional authorities on the one hand, and big business on the other. Trade cooperatives have received consistent support in Tatarstan, while federal retail companies are ready to invest in infrastructure, even in remote areas. Together, we are restoring quality retail for the people and building the foundation for the future of consumer cooperatives. It’s especially symbolic that this is taking place on 2 March – the day when, 195 years ago, the Decembrists formulated cooperative principles that remain relevant today,” said Dmitry Zubov, Chairman of the Board of Centrosoyuz.
Centrosoyuz and X5 signed their strategic partnership agreement in November 2024. In the first stage of the partnership (through end-2027), X5 committed RUB 1 billion to modernise 1,000 cooperative stores. At present, the project has engaged cooperative stores across 17 regions of Russia.
“X5 sees support for small and medium-sized businesses as the foundation for regional economic prosperity. The Okolo franchise is a unique tool for rural store development. Through our strategic partnership with Centrosoyuz, we’ve built an optimal offering and business model that enables this segment to grow nationwide. We see particularly strong prospects in the Republic of Tatarstan, where consumer cooperatives have developed for years with systematic support from the head of the Republic and the government. Today, we agreed that by year-end, X5 will provide trade equipment for modernising over 500 Tatpotrebsoyuz cooperative stores,” said Igor Pletnev, Managing Director of Okolo.
The franchise’s online platform, OKOLO.Market, is already helping to promote products from Tatarstan’s local manufacturers at the national level. The first success of joint work in this area was achieved in partnership with Tatpotrebsoyuz. Last year, a line of pasta products under the Tokmach brand became available on the platform for Okolo franchisees in neighbouring Bashkortostan and is already on sale in Moscow.
The Okolo franchise is built on partnerships with experienced entrepreneurs who already operate retail businesses. There are currently 5,216 Okolo-branded stores located in 51 regions of Russia: 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.