"We have a search of documents going on in Khimki Business Park" north of Moscow, a spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

The facility is a real estate subsidiary of the Ikea Group.

"We are cooperating with the representatives of the authorities," she said. "This has nothing to do with the store."

Spokeswoman Tatyana Rusakova told the TASS news agency that "the investigation is being carried out as part of a case about a piece of land belonging to Ikea".

TASS reported that the investigation dated back to 2012.

Ikea has 14 branches in Russia which have proved a hit with the upwardly-mobile middle classes keen to upgrade their Soviet-era furniture.

The Swedish flatpack giant reported "strong growth" in Russia in the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Russian sales in 2013 went up 18 percent, TASS reported.

A Russian court in 2012 convicted a Turkish national of helping a Swedish executive at Ikea to extort a bribe.