BARCELONA, Apr 25 (Reuters) - Spanish fashion group Tendam will reopen its stores in Russia through a Belarusian company, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday, following the model of Mango, which transferred its stores to Russian franchisees last year.

Spain's third-largest fashion retailer has kept its 19 stores in Russia closed since March last year, along with many Western companies that suspended operations in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States on Moscow.

Tendam agreed in March with Belarusian company ALC Belvirineja to divest its Russian business under a franchise agreement, Tendam CEO Jaume Miquel told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Retail Congress in Barcelona.

Miquel said he did not know whether the company would return to Russia in the future or continue to operate there through franchising.

The company had about 400 employees in Russia and the country accounted for 2% of its sales before the war. In total, Tendam has 1,805 stores---1,200 of which it manages itself--in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

Last year, Mango began handing over the 55 stores it managed directly in Russia to local partners. Although 30 stores remain permanently closed, Mango said in March that it was present in 90 stores in Russia under franchise agreements.

Zara owner Inditex opted to exit Russia entirely, agreeing in October to sell its business there to the UAE-based Daher Group after closing 500 stores by March 2022.

Only 245 Inditex stores will reopen after the deal, but the new brands will be completely different from Inditex's, the company said in its annual report. As part of the agreement, Inditex did not rule out returning to the country if circumstances change.

(Reporting by Corina Pons and Helen Reid; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)