Kingfisher group to plough £115m into opening nine new Castorama home improvement stores over next two years.
Kingfisher already operates 17 Castorama outlets in Russia, opening its first store in 2006. The latest round of investment will keep the DIY giant on course for its plan to open between four and five Castorama stores in Russia a year.

Kingfisher group chief executive Ian Cheshire is expected to make the announcement while on a business delegation to Russia with Prime Minister David Cameron. Mr Cheshire said of the plan: "Russia represents a major opportunity for Kingfisher. Our trading performance there has been encouraging and we look forward to opening these nine new Castorama stores and many more in the future."

Kingfisher's Russian operations saw a 39% increase in sales to £240m in 2010/2011. The retail giant is understood to think its Russian outlets could equal the success of its Castorama stores in Poland, which generated sales of more than £1bn last year.