The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service said Friday that it might fine a unit of IKEA, the world’s biggest home-furnishings retailer, over claims that it forced tenants at shopping centers to buy insurance from preselected companies.
IKEA Mos, a Russian IKEA unit, “for a number of years” urged tenants to choose from a list of “recommended” insurance companies, a practice that discriminated against more than 700 other insurers, the service said on its web site. The watchdog said it would decide whether to fine IKEA after further investigation.
IKEA has faced at least four disputes with authorities while opening outlets since entering the country in 2000. Russian sales account for 4 percent to 5 percent of IKEA’s total and are the company’s fastest growing, Per Kaufmann, general director for Russia and Ukraine, said in August.
“Since we are interested in long-term cooperation with our tenants, we make them familiar with our insurance requirements, informing them about the insurers we consider sufficiently reliable from our point of view,” Oksana Belaichuk, a spokeswoman for IKEA, said in an e-mailed response to questions.
The retailer and its Russian unit never severed contracts with tenants if they chose insurers other than those recommended by IKEA, she said.
Kaufmann said in June that the Swedish company would halt future investment in the country until “key issues” affecting operations were resolved as it struggled to gain approval to open a mall in Samara. In August, he said the company would end the freeze because local officials were adhering more closely to the law.
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