March 10 (SeeNews) - Turkish supermarket chain Migros [IST:MGROS] will be able to expand its operations using a 60 million euro ($71.4 million) loan provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the lender said.
The food retailer is aiming to increase efforts to employ a gender-balanced workforce and further enhance the energy efficiency of its store network with the new financing, the EBRD said in a statement earlier this week.
The EBRD loan will benefit Migros to develop and implement an equal opportunities action plan to open up more job opportunities for women. The company intends to hire over 2,000 women to fill new positions created as a result of burgeoning demand for grocery shopping.
In order to meet customer demand boosted by the coronavirus pandemic, and in line with its sustainability strategy, the company aims to open new stores and refurbish others, to embed renewable energy systems and energy-saving technologies, the EBRD said.
The EBRD is committed to providing funds and policy support that will help Turkey cope with the coronavirus crisis and use the current situation to “tilt to green” decisively, it noted.
Migros operates in 81 Turkish provinces, through a network of 2,286 food retail stores under the Migros, Migros Jet, 5M and Macrocenter banners.
($ = 0.84004 euro)