Starbucks heads for Siberia

The popular chain originating in the US is poised to venture into Siberia for the first time. Advertisements have run in Novosibirsk for an English-speaking operations manager for the largest city in Siberia. 

Starbucks already boast more than 60 coffee shops in Moscow, a handful in St Petersburg and one in Rostov-on-Don, with openings expected in Sochi and Krasnodar. Many Siberian cities are full of coffee shops, but Starbucks - which first opened in Seattle in 1971 - has until now resisted going east from Moscow. 

A Siberian-based chain Traveler's Coffee - http://www.travelerscoffee.ru/en/ - flourishes from the Urals to the Pacific, but has also spread to the rest of Russia and four countries abroad, including China. 

Spokeswoman for Starbucks Elena Terekhova told us: 'We are carefully examining the possible appearance of Starbucks in other cities and regions of Russia, including Novosibirsk. Starbucks pursues a strategy of gradual development.

'We are encouraged by the opportunities and challenges opening for Starbucks on the Russian market and we see great potential in it'.