Pop star Madonna will open a Hard Candy Fitness Center in St. Petersburg, Russia later this year.

The 52,000sq ft (4,800sq m) club will be the third in the fledgling Hard Candy portfolio, which Madonna founded last year in partnership with fitness industry veteran Mark Mastrov, chair of New Evolution Ventures (NeV).

The St. Petersburg site will be the second club in Russia - the first will open shortly in the capital Moscow - and follows the opening of the first Hard Candy club in Mexico City late last year.

Both the Moscow and St. Petersburg locations will be operated in partnership with Irina Razumova, founder of the Russian chain Planet Fitness.

NeV's Mastrov, his partner Jim Rowley, along with Madonna and her manager Guy Oseary are also exploring options of building additional Hard Candy locations in Italy, the UK, Canada, France, Australia, Argentina, and Brazil.

Hard Candy Fitness Centers will offer traditional gym spaces with cv and resistance equipment, as well as a number of branded group classes such as Mind Body Studio, The Great Wall, Sculpting, barre3, Bike Studio as well as capoeira and yoga.