Rautakirja, part of the SanomaWSOY Group, is expanding its kiosk
operations to Russia by establishing a joint venture with the
Russian OOO Partner Service Group. Rautakirja will hold a 70%
majority share in the new company, OOO R-Kiosk. The company will
launch its modern kiosk concept in Moscow with the aim of later
expanding its business to other major cities.
OOO R-Kiosk targets busy main streets and the vicinity of Metro
stations as locations for its up-to-date kiosk outlets. The company
aims to set up 50 kiosks during the first year.
The kiosk outlets' product mix will be based on newspapers and
magazines, sweets, tobacco products and various pre-paid cards. "Our
kiosks are modern convenience stores focusing on selling impulse
buys. As our logo we will use the blue and yellow letter R, and our
kiosk concept will underline the speed and convenience of shopping
at our kiosks," says Kalvar Kase, Director of International Kiosk
Operations, outlining the company's business policy.
Kiosks play a significant role in single copy sales of newspapers
and magazines in Russia. Thus the establishment of the joint venture
supports Rautakirja's aim of becoming the leading press distributor
in the major Russian cities. Rautakirja already has a press
distribution company in Moscow. Independent Media, part of the
SanomaWSOY Group's magazine division Sanoma Magazines is the leading
player on the magazines market in Russia. "We have not ruled out
acquisitions, even major ones, as a potential means for achieving
our goal," says Erkki Järvinen, President and CEO of Rautakirja.
SANOMAWSOY CORPORATION
Matti Salmi
Senior Vice President
Finance and Administration
Additional information:
Kalvar Kase, Director, International Kiosk Operations, Rautakirja
Corporation, tel. +372 503 3945
Erkki Järvinen, President and CEO, Rautakirja Corporation, tel. +358
400 455 913
Rautakirja is the market leader in kiosk operations, press
distribution, and movie theatres in Finland and in the Baltic
countries. Moreover, it leads the Finnish and Estonian markets for
bookstores, and from the beginning of 2007 also the Dutch market for
press distribution. The press distribution business has further
expanded into the Russian and Romanian markets. Rautakirja is part
of the SanomaWSOY Group, which operates in versatile fields of media
in over 20 European countries.
