The Russian property development company Macromir stated that it will support Wal-Mart’s market entry in Russia. According to local media in Russia, Macromir said yesterday that it has been in partnership talks with Wal-Mart since May. If the companies reach an agreement, then either Wal-Mart will lease facilities in shopping complexes, which Macromir has already started building, or the Russian company will do construction especially for Wal-Mart.

Macromir is a real estate investment and management company which was established in 2002 by Andrei Rogachev, a founder of the Pyaterochka retail chain and shareholder of X5 Retail Group. Rogachev holds a majority stake in Macromir, which is expected to be listed on the London Stock Exchange by late 2008 or 2009.

Market participants, however, doubt that Wal-Mart has already made a final decision to enter the Russian market, because otherwise the chain would be holding talks with several companies at the same time, the RBC Daily newspaper wrote today. A source close to the negotiations explained that the discussion is about Wal-Mart arriving on the Russian market in the hypermarket format, which means that the stores will have an area of around 20,000 square meters.