Tesco suspends opening of F&F stores in Russia - sources

MOSCOW (Reuters) - British retailer Tesco Plc has suspended opening its F&F clothing stores in Russia, retail industry sources told Reuters. Debruss, the Russian franchise operator for British department store group Debenhams , said in March it planned to open two F&F outlets in June and one more in August 2015 in Moscow shopping malls. None of the stores has opened, and Debruss said on Friday it was "not currently working with F&F". It declined further comment. "We do not currently have any trading F&F franchise stores or concessions in Russia," a spokesman for F&F said. He declined to comment further. A source familiar with the situation said a Moscow shopping mall, Afimall, was terminating its contract with a company representing F&F in Russia because a store scheduled to open there had not done so. Reuters correspondents saw an F&F advertisement in a shop window in Afimall announcing the opening in June. "The company, acting on behalf of F&F, did not begin preparations ... We have information that F&F later revised plans on entering the Russian market," the source said. Another source said Tesco was put off by the political risks involved in investing in a country subject to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis as well as a drop in consumer spending following a slide in the rouble currency. "The British do not have a very optimistic view on Russia, and country risks have prevailed," the source with a commercial property specialist told Reuters. A retail market source said: "F&F has decided not to develop in Russia for now ... Demand in the apparel retail sector is very weak." (Reporting by Olga Sichkar and Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Alexander Winning and Dale Hudson)