// Nike close to departing from Russia after not renewing its franchise agreement
// The sportswear giant has a franchise agreement with Inventive Retail Group (IRG)
Nike is considering exiting Russia amid the nation’s invasion of Ukraine, after not renewing its franchise agreement.
The sportswear giant has a franchise agreement with Inventive Retail Group (IRG), which owns the country’s largest single-brand chain of US retail stores.
IRG President Tikhon Smykov said Nike was no longer supplying goods to Russia, The Vedomosti Daily reported.
READ MORE: Nike revenue smashes £8bn as shoppers return to stores
Nike said on March 3 it would temporarily suspend operations at all its Nike-owned and -operated stores in Russia.
“As supplies of goods run out IRG will be forced to close all of its shops under this brand,” Smykov wrote in a letter to employees.
“We started a joint business in 2012, we lovingly built up the best chain of stores in the country and ended up 10 years later in a situation where that business cannot exist.”
IRG PR director Lyudmila Semushina confirmed that supplies of Nike products have been suspended, and the goods themselves are in short supply.
IRG said it could not comment on its relationship with Nike due to contractual issues.
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