Depot Development Group from the Foxtrot Group (Kyiv), developing the Depo’t shopping centers chain in Ukraine, plans to expand the portfolio of retail property in Ukrainian regions via acquisition of finished facilities and building new ones, Foxtrot Group Head Valeriy Makovetsky has said.
“We have several construction projects and a number of projects for expanding/restyling existing facilities,” Makovetsky said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, he said that the group does not plan to build a shopping center in Kyiv, since this is a specific market “with a long and not very high return on invested capital.”
“We have another strategy: construction of commercial real estate in the regions of Ukraine. We are trying to acquire completed and, from our point of view, liquid, small facilities. Next year [2019] we have planned the construction of a good facility in the center of Chernihiv. We are currently developing a restyling project of our facility in Kryvy Rih. We are attaching a sports complex with a swimming pool for the Sportlife network. We are planning to reformat the shopping center in Zaporizhia, to expand our shopping center in the center of Kropyvnytsky. Maybe, we will take part as partners in one of the Kharkiv facilities,” Makovetsky said, describing the plans.
According to him, these will be small regional-scale shopping centers, the total area of each of them will be about 10,000-15,000 square meters.
As Makovetsky said, Depo’t shopping centers show good performance, so the issue of selling them is not on the agenda.
“This business demonstrates good efficiency. The facilities stably show profits. Rental rates this year have grown by about 30%. Therefore, we plan to develop this area of business and the issue of selling them is not on the agenda,” the head of the Foxtrot Group said.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
In view of the approaching tropical storm Pabuk, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has asked Ukrainian citizens to refrain from visiting the Kingdom of Thailand, the Consular Service Department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said.
“In view of the approaching tropical storm Pabuk and the deterioration of weather conditions in the southern regions of the Kingdom of Thailand (in provinces Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Krabi, Trang, Satun, and Phuket) strong wind and precipitation are expected there from January 2 to 5, 2019. Flooding and typhoons that can lead to disruption of the transport communication systems, as well as interruptions in electricity and water supplies are possible,” a statement published on the website of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said on January 2 night.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that citizens of Ukraine exercise increased vigilance and caution, and refrain from visiting coastal areas without a special need for this period,” the statement says.
The Zaporizhia international airport serviced 400,300 passengers in 2018, which was 15% more than in 2017.
“The airport has reached this indicator for the first time in more than past 25 years. Some 305,300 people were serviced on international flights, and almost 95,000 people on domestic flights,” the airport said on its website.
During 2018, 3,260 sorties were flown from the airport.
The most popular destinations last year were traditionally resort ones – Istanbul, Sharm el-Sheikh and Antalya. The Zaporizhia-Warsaw route launched in 2018, which is operated by the Polish airline LOT, was also in great demand.
In December 2018, about 31,000 passengers took advantage of the airport services, of which 22,800 people on international lines, and almost 8,000 on domestic ones. Some 226 sorties were serviced: 125 of international airlines, and 111 of domestic ones.
Passenger traffic of the airport in 2017 amounted to 348,400 people. (2% of the passenger traffic of the airports of Ukraine). The airport services 12 airlines.
The municipal enterprise Zaporizhia International Airport was opened in 1945. It provides for take-off/landing on two runways (artificial and unpaved).
As many as two million Ukrainians have been able to benefit from a visa-free regime with the European Union, President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has said.
“Two million Ukrainians have already used a visa-free regime with the EU! The visa-free regime does work!” Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page on January 3 morning.
The Ukrainian head of state said Ukraine enjoys a visa-free regime with more than 100 countries.
“At present, we have a visa-free regime with more than 100 countries. And we continue to open the world for Ukraine and Ukraine for the world,” Poroshenko said.
