Ukrainian firm Rocket Delivery leaves Greece

Before even completing seven months of activity in Greece, Rocket Delivery, one of the digital platforms for meal orders and delivery, is departing the Greek market.

Until Wednesday night there had been no formal notice by the enterprise which late on Tuesday had emailed its employees about its decision and suddenly ended its contract with a promotion company in Greece.

While observers rushed to link the departure of the Ukrainian group from Greece and other countries to the recent developments in eastern Ukraine, the decision appears to be mainly related to financial problems being experienced by its main shareholders. Kathimerini understands Rocket Delivery is also withdrawing from Cyprus, France, Spain, Portugal and other European markets.

The delivery company started operating in Greece last July and currently employs 100 people; it had recently announced its intention to hire another 500 employees. When the labor relations story at rival efood came out last September, Rocket announced it would proceed to sign indefinite contracts for salaried employment with its new staff.

The group employs some 10,000 people in Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Cyprus, France, Spain, Portugal and Ukraine.