Inditex, the parent company of fashion brand Zara, has announced plans to gradually re-open its retail stores in Ukraine from 1 April 2024, Reuters has reported.   

The company cited local market circumstances as the reason for its decision.  

The Financial Times reported that the fashion retailer aims to re-open 50 of 80 stores in the country, beginning with 20 - including three Zara outlets - in the Kyiv region.  

Online sales are also set to resume as part of the first phase of re-opening. 

Inditex stated that the group's priority continues to be the safety of its employees and customers.

The company had closed all 84 of its Ukrainian stores, including the Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka brands, due to the geopolitical conflict in the region that began in February 2022. 

Despite the closures, Inditex has continued to pay taxes and salaries to its 1,000 employees in Ukraine and maintained its rental agreements with landlords. 

Later in 2022, Inditex reached an agreement to sell its Russian stores to the United Arab Emirates-based Daher Group. It has not dismissed the possibility of returning to Russia if the situation changes.  

The move comes after fashion retailer H&M also began re-opening its Ukrainian stores in November 2023. 

H&M operates seven stores in Kyiv and Lviv. 

Inditex's decision also follows a positive report from the Retail Association of Ukraine, which indicated that the country's leading retail chains have nearly restored the pre-war number of operating stores within 17 months of the start of the conflict.  

Of 17,040 retail outlets across the industry, 16,964 are now operational. Only 76 out of 4,481 trade venues remain closed.