Kyiv, November 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Retail Group, a managing company of food retail chains as a part of the eponymous holding, plans to open a Velmart hypermarket in Kharkiv by the end of this year, which will be the fifth store in the city and 16th in the country.

"We are actively developing the Velmart discount hypermarket format. Unfortunately, we haven’t presented it in Kyiv, but in the regions 15 hypermarkets are successfully operating. We plan to open another [hypermarket] in Kharkiv by the end of this year," Head of the Retail Group's supervisory board Roman Lunin said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

Next year Retail Group plans to open new outlets, but this will depend on the economic situation in the country.

"We're optimistic. We see that this year, despite difficulties in the economy, the number of buyers in our chain is growing, and the number of items in receipts is growing," he said.

Retail Group was established in 2005. As of October 30, 2014, the group managed 41 Velyka Kishenya stores in 16 cities in Ukraine, 15 Velmart discount stores in 13 cities of Ukraine, four VK Select premium class stores, a Prosto-Market discount store, nine VK Express convenience stores in Ukraine and Green Hills Market stores and one Velmart store in Moldova.