Metro Leaves Kazakhstan

Metro Leaves Kazakhstan: The Kazakh market offers many opportunities. Business is not always successful, as the example of Metro shows.

METRO AG is leaving Kazakhstan, as the company found it difficult to build a solid, long-term basis for sustainable profit and growth in the country's specialised food wholesale market. On 2 October 2026, the German wholesale giant officially announced that it would gradually discontinue all six of its physical stores as well as its delivery business by the end of March 2027.

The company cited several specific reasons for this strategic portfolio decision:

• Geographically widely dispersed customer base: METRO specialises in supplying the hospitality sector (HoReCa – hotels, restaurants, cafés) and independent retailers. As these target customers are spread across a vast geographical area and not concentrated close together, operating a specialised wholesale and delivery network was extremely inefficient and costly.

• Lack of economies of scale compared to competitors: Local retail networks and suppliers with denser logistics systems were able to operate with significantly lower transport overheads across the country's enormous distances.

• Minor financial impact on the parent company: METRO Kazakhstan generated revenue of around EUR 143 million in the 2024–2025 financial year. While significant on a local level, this accounted for just 0.4% of METRO AG's total global revenue (EUR 32.4 billion).

This makes an exit logical from a portfolio optimisation perspective.

What can we learn from the Metro case?

It is enormously important to get to know the market before entering it. Potentials and risks must be weighed, and the right strategic decisions must be made. This allows risks to be minimised and strategic mistakes to be avoided.