In positioning its overseas business as a strategic growth area, Shiseido Co., Ltd. is aggressively promoting business expansion, and as a result, estimated sales of overseas business have exceeded 30% in the fiscal period ended March 2007. The cultivation of promising new markets is a key issue in maintaining the growth of international businesses; accordingly, Shiseido established a subsidiary in the Russian Federation where the cosmetics market holds ever-increasing potential due to economic growth in recent years. Subsequent to Shiseido’s initial entry into the Russian market via a distributor in 1999, Russian subsidiary Shiseido (RUS), LLC. was established as a wholly owned subsidiary in May 2007 with sales scheduled to begin in January.