In January-September 2024, the number of stores of surveyed Ukrainian retailers increased by 9.5%, or 1,925 outlets, with Kyiv, Dnipro and Lviv regions leading the way, according to a study by the Ukrainian Retailers Association.
“The number of operating stores in the first nine months of this year continues to show positive dynamics. Thus, in January-September 2024, 1925 stores were opened and 649 were closed for various reasons. Accordingly, during this period, the net increase amounted to 1276 retail outlets. It should be reminded that in the first six months of 2024, 837 stores were added,” the association said in a statement.
According to the association, the largest number of stores is concentrated in Kyiv and the region – 5266 retail facilities. It also has the largest increase in retail outlets: in nine months, the number of operating stores increased by 473, including 328 closed stores.
Dnipropetrovska oblast ranks second with 2,075 operating stores. At the same time, 180 outlets were reopened or launched in the region and 64 stores were closed during the reporting period.
Lviv region is the third most concentrated retailer with 1947 retail outlets. Also, 124 new stores accounted for 56 closed ones in the first nine months.
According to the study, Odesa (1316 stores) and Kharkiv (1215) regions are also among the five most saturated regions with stores. In January-September, 98 and 97 new active outlets were recorded in these regions, respectively, while 41 and 77 were closed.
According to the association, these five regions account for more than half (54%) of all operating stores of the surveyed retailers (108 companies).
About 40 Ukrainian retailers from different segments from the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine and till the end of 2022 transferred humanitarian and military aid to the total amount of 2,7 billion UAH, follows from the research of Ukrainian Retailers Association.
According to it, for the needs of the army and territorial defense were transferred food products worth 516.8 million UAH and non-food products worth 710.7 million UAH.
The population was provided with food aid to the amount of more than 430 million UAH, non-food – 622.8 million UAH. In addition, retailers have collected more than 255.5 million UAH of financial aid for the purchase of transport, 130.4 million UAH of medicines were transferred.
The Ministry of Economy proposed at a meeting with food industry associations on October 11 that the terms of settlement of goods producers and retailers be set at 24-30 days as a compromise and slightly expand the list of goods for the effective uninterrupted work of both parties.
“We are trying to bring the positions of the parties closer. In particular, as a compromise option, we propose to set a settlement period of 24 or 30 days. If the parties do not agree, we will be forced to use other mechanisms, although the government is fundamentally against strengthening regulation,” the First Deputy Prime Minister is quoted as saying. – Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko press service of the department.
According to her, the issue of payments for delivered goods is really painful, since each of the parties believes that it is lending at its own expense to the other.
“We are talking, in particular, about payments for goods of significant social importance, and about debts for previously delivered goods. The government believes that the best solution is to coordinate the positions of manufacturers and sellers in the dialogue process and strengthen the discipline of payments,” Sviridenko said.
During the meeting, issues were also raised of providing food industries with preferential gas, lending to food and processing enterprises under the 5-7-9 program, uninterrupted supply of electricity to food industry enterprises during rolling blackouts, as well as issues of limiting the export of sunflower seeds and obtaining permission for transactions for certain types of import operations.
The Ministry of Economy noted that at present gas at preferential prices is received by enterprises of the baking industry and dairy products, and now the country does not have the opportunity to expand the corresponding list. As Sviridenko explained, first of all, it is necessary to provide the population with preferential gas, but, given the importance of the stable operation of enterprises in the industry, the issue of the possibility of purchasing additional volumes of gas for preferential supplies to the food industry will be worked out.
According to the agency, the head of the Ministry of Economy also supported the request of the food industry to include industry enterprises in the list of critical infrastructure, which will allow them to receive electricity even during rolling blackouts. According to her, this issue will be worked out with the Ministry of Energy and local authorities, which form the relevant lists.
Some 65% of retailers surveyed by international company Colliers Ukraine expect recovery in the Ukrainian retail market in the next year or two.
“Over the entire period of the spread of the pandemic, retailers have adapted their business processes and potentially understand where to move. As soon as the tough quarantine restrictions are eased this year, we can state the presence of deferred demand from buyers. After the quarantine, in a fairly short period of time, there is a stabilization of tenants’ turnover,” Director of Retail Agency at Colliers Ukraine Ihor Zabolotsky has told Interfax-Ukraine.
Colliers Ukraine told Interfax-Ukraine that more than half (55%) of surveyed retailers were more comfortable with the total restrictions of this year, or were more prepared for the next closure of their outlets than in 2020. In particular, if last year almost 35% of surveyed retailers expected that it would take six months to recover the situation, then according to the results of the 2021 survey, only 13% believe that it will take six months to restore the pre-quarantine indicators after the spring quarantine in 2021.
As retailers note, online sales cover a larger percentage of operating costs this year compared to spring 2020.
Anti-crisis measures that retailers used to cut expenditures during the lockdown were also softer. As noted in Colliers Ukraine, this year the number of retailers who sent their staff on unpaid leave has decreased. Compared to spring 2020, the share of retailers who cut staff and closed outlets as anti-crisis measures decreased from 69% to 50%.
Some 60% of retailers noted the presence of supply disruptions during the spring of 2020, this year only 40%.
According to Zabolotsky, this year the number of operators who plan to reduce their outlets in the short term has decreased to 24% from 36% in 2020. About a third of retailers are planning to expand their chains (15.5% in 2020).
The expert added that today there are changes in the standard commercial terms of lease agreements: in a number of new agreements, the emphasis has shifted towards the percentage of turnover.
Colliers International is a leading diversified professional services provider, including investment management in commercial real estate. The company’s offices are represented in 67 countries of the world.
