Russian retailer X5 Retail Group has announced that it has commenced a partnership with the Republic of Tatarstan, which will focus on innovation and new technologies.
The retailer reports that the agreement was signed by the minister of information and communication of the Republic of Tatarstan, Roman Shaikhutdinov, and X5 Retail Group CFO Svetlana Demyashkevich during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The parties agreed to foster infrastructure for innovation, as well as social and economic development in the retail industry of the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as working on enhancing import substitution and driving Russian information technologies.
The Republic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the Volga Federal District.
Automating Retail
As per the agreement, the X5 Retail Group IT Competency Centre will be set up at the Innopolis Special Economic Zone, a 'tech city' in the republic, and X5 will become an official partner of Innopolis.
The new competency centre will focus on the development of innovative solutions to automate and robotise retail processes, as well as the testing of new technologies, products and services created in the Innopolis Special Economic Zone.
Shaikhutdinov, who is also the deputy prime minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, said, "We would be happy to see Innopolis filled with large companies that imagine their future only with the latest and most advanced technologies as part of their production processes.”
X5 Retail Group's CFO Demyashkevich added, “Amidst the digitisation in the economy, it is technology that fosters the potential for successful competition and flexibility in scaling up businesses and operations.
“We pay particular attention to IT technologies and innovations, and have a major strategic project centered around big data, while also introducing robotised and automated processes. I believe that by teaming up with experts of the Innopolis University, we are set to succeed.”
The Russian food retailer recently announced that it was testing three unique labelling technologies to ensure the consistent quality of its products.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
