Sweden’s IKEA, the largest furniture and household goods retailer in the world, plans to expand its network in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine after testing the first store in Kyiv-based Ocean Mall, which will be opened in summer 2019. “We want to study and understand the market with the first store, and then, when we feel that we understand the market, we will open other stores in Kyiv and other cities. One year is ideal for studying to get a full cycle… Also we are working to ensure the introduction of online sales as fast as possible,” IKEA Southeast Europe CEO Stefan Vanoverbeke said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the area of the first IKEA store in Kyiv will be about 6,000 square meters, the range of goods will include furniture and accessories.
“The store will be divided into locations. We call them room sets. It is a kind of room where we show solutions for home. In addition, there will be a concept for small household solutions. There will be all the components. We will collect the maximum number of products to provide the full and best experience for buyers,” Vanoverbeke said.
According to him, the range of items in the Ukrainian store will include products that the company sells in other countries. The company intends to develop retail outlets that will be smaller in size than traditional ones for IKEA.
“The idea to build one big shopping center in one part of the city is no longer working. For example, residents of the left bank area of Kyiv, to get to the store on the right bank, have to spend one or two hours. It is not so convenient. First, this will be downtown, and later, perhaps, we will add a food outlet, and further, probably, we will develop the concept of smaller outlets in less accessible places in the residential areas,” he said.
At the same time, Vanoverbeke said that the company does not rule out the expansion in retail space in Ukraine.
“Our colleagues have analyzed the market of large shopping centers and, indeed, in Ukraine, in comparison with the countries of Western Europe, there is an opportunity to increase the space of IKEA. Our achievements with large shopping centers are more typical for countries like China. But we are still analyzing it for Ukraine. Let’s see how the market will develop,” he said.
Ukraine has started issuing energy efficiency certificates for building with defining the class of energy efficiency after an audit, the press service of the Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Economy Ministry of Ukraine has reported. “The certificate is a necessary tool for the operation of homeowner associations and the Energy Efficiency Fund,” Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Economy Minister Hennadiy Zubko said.
According to the press service, the energy efficiency certificate allows assessing the energy efficiency of a building and the effect of the implemented measures, and also contains recommendations on the next steps.
“Today [on September 11] we launch the energy auditors market. We have already signed a memorandum with 21 universities to create commissions for the certification of energy auditors. The second important area for us is to launch jointly with the Ministry of Education the “energy auditor” program of study in higher educational institutions. There is an agreement with [Germany’s] GIZ on conducting additional trainings for certified energy auditors not only in Ukraine, but also abroad,” Zubko added.
He also said that the ministry is waiting for the adoption of the energy efficiency bill that will create tools and regulations for more efficient energy consumption, not only in the private sector, but also in industry, aiming to reduce energy consumption in the transport and energy sectors.
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Money supply in Ukraine in August 2018 increased by 0.3%, to UAH 1.233 trillion, such preliminary data of monetary statistics are posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
The country’s monetary base expanded 0.3% last month, to UAH 421.89 billion.
The NBU said that off-bank cash in August shrank by 0.6%, to UAH 344.17 billion, while ending stock on deposits grew by 0.9%, to UAH 888.66 billion.
Since early 2018, money supply grew by 2% and monetary base – by 5.7%, while off-bank cash rose by 3.5%.
Comfy Trade LLC (Dnipro), the owner of a large household appliances and electronics store chain under the Comfy brand in Ukraine, has leased a warehouse with a total space of 21,000 square meters in Velyka Dymerka (Kyiv region) from Raben Ukraine.
Comfy warehouse director Maksym Yakymenko told Interfax-Ukraine that at the end of April 2018 the transfer of the central warehouse of Comfy from Dnipro to Velyka Dymerka was completed.
“The central warehouse of Comfy is located in Velyka Dymerka, Kyiv region. The company leased A+ class premises with an area of 21,000 square meters. Raben leases out the modern warehouse complexes,” he said.
Yakymenko said that it is not planned to locate the fulfillment center, which provides for the implementation of all operations from the moment of registering an online order until the receiving of the product by a client.
“We do not have plans to locate the fulfillment center at the central warehouse. Maybe, in the future we would consider this option,” he said.
