Plans to build a bargain 'Russian Lidl' supermarket just outside Leeds are now in serious doubt after parent company Mere reportedly announced it is halting its UK expansion.
Russian grocery chain Mere said it wanted to build a store in Castleford as part of plans to infilitrate the UK market, Mirror Online reports.
It recently opened its first store in Preston, Lancashire, in August 2021, but following the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine, this store has now been shut.
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Mere, which is its European trading name, said this was due to the "political situation" in Russia and Ukraine.
Other stores were due to open in Wales as well as Castleford but it is now unknown if these will ever be opened.
Mere, which is also knows as Svetofor, said it wanted to open 300 stores across the country and billed itself as the UK's cheapest supermarket.
Pictures from the store's opening show products stacked on wooden pallets, with Mere stores doubling up as warehouses.
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Svetofor has 3,200 stores internationally and was founded in 2009.
It opened its first European Mere store in 2018.
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