Danish-owned supermarket giant Netto has announced plans to open in the Ukraine. Netto, which is part of the Möller Maersk group, will be the first discount retailer from Western Europe to have operations in the former Soviet state.

The company hopes to open more than 1000 stores in the Ukraine. Richard Lancaster, Netto’s UK managing director, stated: "We see big potential and many opportunities in the Ukraine. The country has a population of almost 50 million, all of whom have increasingly substantial purchasing power."

The first stores are planned to open in 2008, followed by 25 more the next year. The discounter has similar plans for Poland and Sweden. In Poland they will expand by 50 stores and the UK will get 20 more stores this year. Netto already has 181 UK stores and 245 German stores. The Swedish Netto branch had 28 stores in 2003. As of December 2007 the store count was 80.