Ukraine’s largest one dollar store chain Aurora paid more than UAH 4.5 billion in taxes and fees in January-September 2024, including more than UAH 455 million in personal income tax (PIT) to local community budgets, said Taras Panasenko, CEO of the chain.
According to him, the company is the largest taxpayer in the Poltava territorial community over the three quarters of this year, with revenues amounting to UAH 139.9 million.
Of the total taxes paid, UAH 1.37 billion was customs duties, UAH 1.36 billion was VAT on sales, UAH 522 million was a single social contribution, UAH 803.1 million was income tax, and UAH 37.9 million was military duty.
“It is equally important to support local manufacturing businesses. More than 500 of Aurora’s partners are Ukrainian manufacturers. They supply more than 47% of the range of Ukrainian products to our store shelves. 80% of them are non-food products,” said Panasenko.
In addition, 25 Ukrainian manufacturers export their products for sale in the Aurora chain in Romania.
According to the entrepreneur, in October, Aurora intends to sell UAH 1 billion worth of goods participating in the National Cashback program.
The head office of the Aurora retail chain is located in Poltava. “Aurora was founded in 2011 by Lev Zhydenko, Taras Panasenko and Lesya Klymenko. As of October 1, 2024, the chain has 1533 stores in Ukraine and 25 in Romania. The company employs about 14 thousand people.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Vygidna Kupil LLC, which develops the chain, is Aurorityl Investments Limited of Cyprus, and its beneficiary is Zhydenko. The Cypriot company also owns Prior Development LLC, Seven A LLC, Promyslova 9 LLC, and Tak LLC.
Ukrainian one-dollar store chain Aurora has expanded its network to 25 stores and served more than 1 million customers in Romania over the past year, CEO Taras Panasenko said on Facebook.
“Exactly one year ago, the first store in Suceava opened its doors. Now we already have 25 stores here, and eight are in the pipeline to open soon. This year we have served more than 1 million customers in Romania (…), 98% of them are locals,” Panasenko said.
He noted that the segment in Romania is still far from being profitable, “because we need to scale up and fine-tune the product, but we are growing steadily, both quantitatively and qualitatively.”
At the same time, in Romania, Aurora’s NPS (Net Promoter Score), measured by an independent marketing agency, is even higher than in Ukraine, reaching 86.
“We are the first case in the history of independent Ukraine when a system retailer has successfully scaled to the EU. We support local Romanian and Ukrainian producers who export a lot of goods to Aurora Romania. This includes manufacturers from the frontline cities,” he said.
“Aurora was founded in 2011 by Lev Zhidenko, Taras Panasenko and Lesya Klymenko. The retail chain is headquartered in Poltava. The chain has 1528 stores in Ukraine and 25 in Romania.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Vygidna Pokupka LLC, which develops the chain, is listed as Auroritail Investments Limited of Cyprus, with Zhydenko as its beneficiary. The Cypriot company also owns Prior Development LLC, Seven A LLC, Promyslova 9 LLC, and Tak LLC.
At the end of 2023, the network’s net profit amounted to UAH 4.1 billion, and net income – UAH 27 billion.
Aurora, Ukraine’s largest one dollar store chain, opened eight new stores across Ukraine on the eve of the fall, said Ruslan Kudrya, the chain’s development director.
“Today we have surpassed ourselves. At the end of the week, month and summer, we opened eight new stores across Ukraine in one day – the previous record was six,” he wrote on Facebook on August 31.
As specified in the message, three stores were opened in Kyiv, one in Chernihiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Morshyn and Dykanka village (Poltava region).
As reported, Aurora intends to open 400 new stores by the end of this year and reach 2,000 outlets in Ukraine by the end of next year.
“Aurora was founded in 2011 by Lev Zhidenko, Taras Panasenko and Lesya Klymenko. The head office of the Aurora retail chain is located in Poltava. Today, the chain has more than 1400 stores in Ukraine and 25 in Romania.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Vygidna Kupilka LLC, which develops the chain, is listed as Cyprus-based Aurority Investments Limited, with Zhydenko as its beneficiary. The Cypriot company also owns Prior Development LLC, Seven A LLC, Promyslova 9 LLC, and Tak LLC.
At the end of 2023, the network’s net profit amounted to UAH 4.1 billion, and net income – UAH 27 billion.
Vygidna Pokupka LLC (Opishnya, Poltava region), Ukraine’s largest one dollar store chain Aurora, may acquire West Gate Logistics LLC (Stoyanka, Kyiv region), one of the largest warehouse complexes near Kyiv with an area of approximately 97,000 sq m controlled by Dragon Capital, which was almost completely destroyed by Russian troops in 2022 and partially restored.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) said in a statement on Thursday that it had granted Vigorous Purchase permission to acquire the integral property complex owned by West Gate Logistics.
“Aurora was founded in 2011 by Lev Zhidenko, Taras Panasenko and Lesya Klymenko and is headquartered in Poltava. Today, the chain has more than 1400 stores in Ukraine and 25 in Romania.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Vyhidna Pokupka LLC, which develops the chain, is listed as Auroritail Investments Limited of Cyprus, with Zhydenko as its beneficiary. The Cypriot company also owns Prior Development LLC, Seven A LLC, Industrial 9 LLC, and Tak LLC.
“Prior to the full-scale Russian aggression, West Gate Logistics was a class A logistics center located on the international highway E40 at km 21 of Zhytomyr Highway with a total area of about 97 thousand square meters. It was constructed in 2008 and consisted of two buildings, including offices, warehouses, cold storage and mezzanine space. In August 2016, Dragon Capital received the AMCU’s approval to buy East Gate Logistics and West Gate Logistics, which manage the eponymous Class A warehouse complexes, from GLD Invest Group (Vienna, Austria), a development company.
Three months after the Russian troops were driven out of Kyiv, the front building with an area of about 7,700 square meters was repaired and reopened. Nova Poshta and Watsons Ukraine became its tenants.
Currently, West Gate Logistics LLC is owned by New Ukraine PE Holding (NUPEH), a member of the Dragon Capital group of companies, whose main shareholder is the Dragon Capital New Ukraine Fund, and whose beneficiary is the founder and chairman of Dragon Capital, Tomas Fiala.
The largest Ukrainian chain of one dollar stores “Aurora” intends to open 400 new stores at the end of this year and reach 2 thousand outlets in Ukraine by the end of the next year, said the CEO of the network Taras Panasenko.
“In June we opened 40 stores, in July – 24, in August will be more than 30. The plan for this year is 400 stores, we fulfill it in principle. Today, together with Romanian stores we have already passed the figure of 1.5 thousand stores, 25 of them in Romania and more than 1480 in Ukraine. The plan in Ukraine is 2.5 thousand stores. I think that at the end of next year we will definitely exceed 2 thousand stores, and in 2026 we will reach the goal,” – said Panasenko at the Business Breakfast from Forbes Ukraine on Wednesday.
According to him, next year the chain plans to enter the Moldovan market, and in 2026 to expand to other markets, considering the Balkan countries.
In addition, the company intends to develop new formats in the network, as well as digital business. In particular, a new format store was opened in Kiev – with a larger area, children’s and beauty departments, as well as an area for a quick snack.
“Aurora is also continuing its development in waste sorting and recycling: it plans to open waste sorting points in two cities by the end of the year. Currently, such a point is functioning in Poltava.
According to Panasenko, the network’s revenue grew by 55% in the first quarter. The company has the same plan for the second quarter, despite the problems with electricity in July.
“We finished the first quarter as planned – we made 55%. I think the second quarter will be the same. Of course, the power outage and atypical heat wave in July had a significant impact. During this period we fulfilled the plan by 85-90%, but now the situation has normalized,” explained the businessman.
“Aurora” was founded in 2011 by Lev Zhidenko, Taras Panasenko and Lesya Klimenko. The main office of the retail chain “Aurora” is located in Poltava. Today the chain has more than 1400 stores in Ukraine and 25 in Romania.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Vypodnaya Bukupa LLC, which develops the chain, is listed as the Cyprus-based Auroritail Investments Limited, with Zhidenko as its beneficiary. The Cypriot company is also the owner of Prior Development LLC, Seven A LLC, Industrial 9 LLC and Yes LLC.
According to the results of 2023, the net profit of the network amounted to UAH 4.1 billion, net income – UAH 27 billion.
Ukraine’s largest one dollar store chain Aurora intends to open 400 new stores this year and reach 2,000 outlets in Ukraine by the end of next year, said Taras Panasenko, CEO of the chain.
“We opened 40 stores in June, 24 in July, and more than 30 in August. The plan for this year is 400 stores, and we are basically fulfilling it. Today, together with the Romanian stores, we have already passed the figure of 1.5 thousand stores, including 25 in Romania and more than 1480 in Ukraine. The plan for Ukraine is 2.5 thousand stores. I think that at the end of next year we will definitely exceed 2 thousand stores, and in 2026 we will reach the goal,” Panasenko said at the Forbes Ukraine Business Breakfast on Wednesday.
According to him, next year the chain plans to enter the Moldovan market, and in 2026 to expand to other markets, considering the Balkan countries.
In addition, the company intends to develop new formats in the network, as well as digital business. In particular, the company opened a new store in Kyiv with a larger area, children’s and beauty departments, and a quick snack area.
“Aurora also continues to develop in the area of waste sorting and recycling: it plans to open waste sorting points in two cities by the end of the year. Currently, there is one in Poltava.
According to Panasenko, the network’s revenue grew by 55% in the first quarter. The company has the same plan for the second quarter, despite the power outage in July.
“We finished the first quarter as planned, with 55% growth. I think the second quarter will be the same. Of course, the power outage and the atypical heat wave in July had a significant impact. During this period, we fulfilled the plan by 85-90%, but now the situation has returned to normal,” the businessman explained.
“Aurora was founded in 2011 by Lev Zhidenko, Taras Panasenko and Lesya Klymenko. The head office of the Aurora retail chain is located in Poltava. Today, the chain has more than 1.4 thousand stores in Ukraine and 25 in Romania.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Vyhidna Kupilka LLC, which develops the chain, is listed as Cyprus-based Aurority Investments Limited, with Zhydenko as its beneficiary. The Cypriot company also owns Prior Development LLC, Seven A LLC, Promyslova 9 LLC, and Tak LLC.
At the end of 2023, the network’s net profit amounted to UAH 4.1 billion, and net income – UAH 27 billion.
