MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Stockmann plans to open sixteen stores in Russia this year, CEO of the department store chain Gennady Levkin told TASS.

"There is an opportunity for expansion at present. Good sites appear, mainly [left] by departed brands. We will open sixteen stores in Moscow, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, and other cities. Investments amount to 45,000 rubles ($550.6) per meter, estimated at about 3 bln rubles ($36.7 mln) in total," the chief executive said on the sidelines of the NatMallExpo exhibition.

The average area of stores will be from 2,000 to 4,000 square meters and international brands, including Turkish ones, will form the product mix," Levkin noted.

The nearest opening of a store in Moscow will take place on May 9 in the Vegas Kuntsevo, he added.