Retailer Auchan Ukraine started importing salt from Poland, Romania and Hungary back in March to cover a possible shortage of State Enterprise Artyomsol (Soledar, Donetsk region), located in the war zone with Russian occupiers.

The trade network has already established salt imports in April, and Ukrainians do not have to worry about the summer season of canning vegetables, the company's press service said in response to an inquiry from Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

"There is European-made salt on the shelves of Auchan, which costs around UAH 25-30. We plan to sell salt of the following categories: extra, iodized, and even rock salt. The main reason for the shortage of salt is excessive demand. Employees of Auchan hypermarkets literally do not have time to place it, and sometimes a stock of two to three weeks is sold per day," the company's press service said.

According to it, the import of salt from Europe has been established, only within a week the retailer will receive 150 tonnes of salt, including 50 tonnes in the coming days.

"The main goal of Auchan Ukraine is to continue to purchase products from local manufacturers. But since not all enterprises are working at the moment, respectively, not all public needs are covered, the company is ready to cover critical consumption goods by attracting Auchan Poland, Auchan Hungary and Auchan Romania. As soon as Ukrainian enterprises resume work, Auchan will again give priority to local producers," the company's press service concluded.

Auchan Retail is an international retail company, the first store opened in France in 1961.

Auchan Ukraine Hypermarket LLC has been operating in Ukraine since 2008. According to the Auchan website, before the Russian invasion, it had more than 30 stores of various formats (hypermarkets, supermarkets, and pick up points) in nine cities, and is also developing e-commerce.