Costa Coffee, the coffee shop chain owned by Whitbread, has opened its 1000th site.

The store, in Moscow’s Pushkin Square, is Costa’s first Russian outlet and was opened in partnership with OJSC Rosinter Restaurants, a Russian casual dining chain.

The joint venture was formed in December 2007 and the two companies plan to open 200 Costa stores in Russia over the next five years. After this first opening, 11 of Rosinter’s Moka Loka coffee shops will be converted into Costa outlets.

John Derkach, managing director of Costa said: “Costa’s arrival in Russia is another milestone on our journey to become a global coffee brand. Rosinter is an ideal partner who brings a wealth of market insight, which will help us to expand quickly, while making sure we deliver what Russian customers want. We have studied Russian tastes and have expanded our cake range. We are also working towards introducing a selection of coffee with alcohol.”

Costa plans to open its 700th UK store next month and operates over 300 stores overseas in 22 countries.