World Bank's IFC Grants Kaufland EUR 80 M for Bulgaria Expansion

Kaufland, the biggest retail chain operating in Bulgaria, has been granted a EUR 80 M credit line by a World Bank affiliate to open 10 more branches in smaller towns.

The German hypermarket chain currently has 55 stores in Bulgaria. Business newspaper Capital Daily quotes Dimitar Spasov, Kaufland Head of food for Bulgaria, as saying the company is hoping to build 4 to 10 more over the next two to three years with money from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the number mostly depends on land prices.

Along with Lidl, Kaufland has seen double-digit growth in terms of market share over the course of the last few years. Across Europe, it also runs stores in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Croatia.