Russia’s largest food retailer is building a new data center in Moscow.
X5 Group last week announced that construction had started on its data center. The 6,000 sqm (64,583 sq ft) 10MW facility is due to go live in Q3 2026. It will use an outside air cooling system.
The Tier III-quality data center will host the company's own IT systems, including logistics, analytics, and trade management. It will also be used to develop core infrastructure, cloud platforms, big data processing, AI implementation, backup, and other digital services.
"Development of digital infrastructure is one of the key priorities for X5. Construction of our own data center will allow us to minimize dependence on external providers, increase the reliability of our services, and offer higher quality solutions both for internal use and for our clients,” said Alexander Kostin, managing director of X5 Tech. “In addition, investments in our own data center will give X5 significant advantages in reducing the cost of ownership and will reduce the company's expenses by more than three times.”
Originally founded in 1995, X5 operates convenience stores and supermarkets under the Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, and Karusel brands. Pyaterochka and Perekrestok merged in 2006, forming X5 Group. The company has more than 21,700 stores nationwide.
X5 Tech is the IT company and main digital partner of X5 Group. The group has its own proprietary private cloud platform, called Salt, which is hosted out of data centers operated by X5 (Moscow) and its IT partner Selectel (Saint Petersburg).
"Construction and maintenance of our own data center is a new challenge and a new level of competence for the company,” added Oleg Gavrilov, director of IT services, support, and infrastructure at X5 Tech. “We are creating a data center based on the best global practices: we are implementing the most modern technologies in the field of cooling, power supply, and automation to ensure the reliability, speed, and efficiency of all our digital services. We are creating a professional team that will be responsible for energy, climate control, and other engineering systems of the data center.”
Founded in 2008, Selectel operates data centers in Saint Petersburg (x2), Moscow (x2), and Novosibirsk.
X5 has previously been named as an Oracle Cloud customer – though the cloud provider pulled out of Russia during the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Reports in the local press suggest X5 is considering multiple data centers across Russia.
