The owner of AFI Palace Cotroceni mall in Bucharest, AFI Europe, has signed the leasing contract with fashion retailer H&M, which should open the first store in Romania within Cotroceni Park in spring next year.

This is the second leasing contract with H&M announced by shopping mall owners in Romania, after Baneasa Shopping City.

Swedish retailer H&M is one of the most awaited fashion retailers in Romania. The company has started negotiations with most of the mall owners in Bucharest for opening their first store in the country. Media reports have also mentioned Bucuresti Mall, Parklake Plaza (for which works have not yet started) and Unirea Shopping Center in Bucharest as possible destinations for the fashion retailer, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

UPDATE: H&M will open its store in AFI Cotroceni Park in March next year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, which intermediated the lease.