Midland Group, a major operator in the international metals market, plans to open over a thousand outlets of its MD Stores (Store Close to Home) retail chain in Ukraine by 2013. "MD Stores has an extremely aggressive development strategy, with 40 outlets slated to open in 2007 and more than 1,000 additional locations planned in various cities over the next five years," the company's website said. The chain runs eight stores in the Donetsk region and five stores in the Kharkiv region.