President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has announced her visit to Kyiv to discuss with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy the European Union’s support for Ukraine’s energy security ahead of winter.
The statement was made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday in Brussels at a joint press conference with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol.
“The heating season will start in two weeks. As the temperature drops, the European Union is ready to step up its support for Ukraine. We are preparing for the winter together.
After this press conference, I will go to Kyiv to discuss these issues with President Zelensky tomorrow,” she said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of Estonia Alar Karis in Kyiv.
According to the press service of the President of Ukraine, Zelenskyy thanked Karis and his wife for participating in the First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit, which will take place in Kyiv today.
The President of Ukraine also noted Estonia’s decision to allocate 0.25% of GDP annually for the defense needs of our country. This is enshrined in the bilateral security agreement.
“We are grateful for your support in all spheres and a very important agreement on security cooperation between our countries. We are very pleased to have so many strategic partners,” the Head of State emphasized.
In addition, he thanked Estonia for its active participation in the restoration of Ukraine, in particular, for the projects already implemented in Zhytomyr region.
Particular attention was paid to Ukraine’s European integration. Zelenskyy noted Estonia’s significant expert support for Ukraine in the negotiation process.
One of the world leaders in the field of robotic systems for humanitarian demining, the Croatian company DOK-ING, has opened an office in Kyiv, which will help coordinate mine action efforts between Ukraine and Croatia, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said during the opening ceremony.
“We highly appreciate the support provided by Croatia to Ukraine. There are 45 Croatian DOK-ING demining machines currently operating in Ukraine, which have helped clear over a thousand hectares of Ukrainian land. I hope that the opening of the office in Kyiv will be the beginning of even closer cooperation, and our sappers will be able to learn in Ukraine how to operate and maintain these machines,” the press service of the Ministry of Economy quoted her as saying.
The Ministry of Economy noted that Ukraine is one of the key users of DOK-ING demining machines. The State Emergency Service (SES) uses DOK-ING equipment the most. Its fleet includes 10 MV-4 light demining vehicles and 14 MV-10 heavy demining vehicles. Croatian demining machines are also used by the State Special Transport Service (SSTS), humanitarian demining operators and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Of the 45 DOK-ING machines operating in Ukraine, 8 are manufactured at a Ukrainian plant that is a partner of the Croatian company.
“It is very important for us that some of the DOK-ING equipment is manufactured in Ukraine, as it means new jobs and additional budget revenues and support for the economy. In addition, manufacturing equipment in Ukraine reduces delivery time and facilitates logistics when repairs are needed. All of this ultimately accelerates the pace of demining and saves millions of lives,” Svyrydenko added.
The Ukrainian company A3TECH carries out large-scale assembly of DOK-ING demining machines with partial localization: part of the working body is already produced in Ukraine and by the end of the year the company is ready to increase the level of its localization to 100%. In 2024, the company produced eight localized MV-10 heavy demining machines, six of which have already been handed over to the SES.
DOK-ING produces both light and heavy robotic demining and explosive ordnance disposal machines. Due to their low profile and robust design, these vehicles are resistant to anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance detonations and can withstand an anti-tank mine explosion. DOK-ING vehicles are controlled by a remote control with a range of up to 1500 meters.
A new educational institution of the KAN Development educational network, Architectural and Engineering Collegium A+ (AIC+), opened in Kiev on Monday. The collegium is designed for 680 students, the company’s representatives said at the opening of AIC+. The area of the building is 13.1 thousand square meters, the total area of the training center is 3.30 hectares, of which 4 thousand sq. m. – shelter area. The training center is located on the territory of the residential neighborhood “Faina Town” in Kiev.
The company explained that the project is a conceptual educational complex that combines kindergarten, primary, secondary school, specialized lyceum and extracurricular activities in engineering, IT and architecture.
KAN added that $23 million was invested directly in the collegium, while the construction of each school shelter cost almost UAH 65 million.
As of today, KAN Development has invested over $100 million in educational institutions.
AIC+ became the 15th educational institution of the A+ network, where 3 thousand children study in full-day format and 700 teachers teach.
A+ activities began in 2005 at the initiative of Ivanna Nikonova. To date, the A+ educational network consists of three elementary school, two secondary schools, four kindergartens, three children’s clubs, a distance education center, a sports and music school and a wide range of extracurricular studios.
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.
Vacancy of shopping and entertainment centers in Kiev decreased from 16.3% in 2023 to 15.2% at the end of the first half of 2024, said the head of legal consulting department of UTG Konstantin Oleynik.
“At the end of last year, about 21.4% of space was de facto vacant, due to the closure of foreign department stores (IKEA, Inditex, H&M and others). The actual vacancy rate was 16.3%. Thanks to the opening of most foreign operators, the vacancy gap with actually closed stores has narrowed,” he said.
According to UTG research, the vacancy rate is higher in regional (18.4%) and district (17%) shopping centers, lower in specialized (9.8%) and district (7%) shopping centers.
The expert noted the trend of decreasing effective demand of the population. The growth of household expenditures on housing and utilities services and CP payment continues (at the end of 2023 this category was 18.8% and with the growth of electricity tariffs there is further growth), health care (4.7%), transportation (4.8%), communication (4.3%), education (3.6%). Cumulatively, these categories drain 36.1% from the family budget. Food and alcohol accumulate 43.4% of expenditures. The share of retail network (clothing and footwear, electronics, household goods, cafes and restaurants, entertainment, other goods) in the structure of expenditures is only 16.0% per family ($73.4 or 2,684.5 UAH per month). Inflation and rapid price growth lead to a reduction in individual savings (about 4.4% in 2023).
In general, general savings and cost rationalization are recorded, for the mall market this entails a decrease in attendance and adjustment of rental rates. Compared to pre-war rates, rates for some product groups have halved or more.
“Food supermarkets have become one of the few operators able to generate sustainable footfall and pay moderately high rental rates ($10-20/sq. m in August 2024), while most department stores, entertainment (cinemas, DDCs), fitness centers are aiming for a minimum fixed payment (around $1/sqm) with an additional RTO (fixed payments of $2 to $12/sqm prevailed before the war), shifting the risk to the developer,” Oleynik reported.
According to UTG research, taking into account the current income level of the population, solvent demand is able to ensure successful functioning for 2 million 313 thousand sq. m. in the capital, and in the second quarter of 2024 there were already 2 million 457 thousand sq. m. in operation.
Competition continues to intensify: large shopping centers with a total area of 250 thousand square meters are declared for opening in 2024-2025. Among them are Ocean Mall (GLA 110 thousand sq. m), Lukiyanivka (47 thousand sq. m), White Lines shopping mall (28 thousand sq. m), New Ray (34.5 thousand sq. m), April Mall (36.5 thousand sq. m), BalticSky (20 thousand sq. m). There is a possibility that most of the announced openings may be postponed to a later period.
According to Oleinik’s estimation, the commissioning of the declared projects will bring about a surplus of retail space and gradual redistribution of consumer flows between objects, vacancy growth and downward correction of rental rates. At the existing level of incomes and expenditures of the population, the vacancy rate may reach 17% in 2025.
UTG was established in 2001. It has developed more than 1300 real estate concepts. During the years of work with the company’s participation 4.7 million square meters of commercial space in Ukraine have been leased out.
KYIV, REAL ESTATE, UTG, Vacancy Shopping and Entertainment Center
