The restaurant market in Kyiv has shrunk by half, since the beginning of the war at least a third of establishments have been closed, Olga Nasonova, co-founder of the National Restaurant Association of Ukraine, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“At best, half of the 500,000 active consumers of restaurant services have remained. This means that half of the market simply does not have its own audience, it does not exist now physically. Restaurant Kyiv today is a city of harsh contrasts. A dead desert with closed doors of cafes and restaurants is enlivened by oases of crowded establishments. At least a third of Kyiv restaurants are closed. It is not known when they will open,” Nasonova said.
According to her observations, only about 20% of open catering establishments show a good load. “From central Kyiv, these are Keds, Musafir, Milk Bar, Mimosa, Arugula, Naprosecco – I won’t mention everyone, but everyone who was downtrodden was doing well before the war,” says Nasonova .
In addition to such top establishments even before the war, according to her estimates, two formats have a chance to “survive”.
“Coffee shops and bakeries will hold out. Low average bill, small area. Chains such as Family Bakery, Lviv Croissants, Espressoholik, Aroma Kava” will be fine with them. Establishments with the concept of simple and hearty cuisine are in demand: “Musafir”, “Mama Manana” (Georgia), “Puzata Khata” … But exotic concepts are now in much less demand, it’s like pampering, or something. Sushi, ramen – it’s more about pampering yourself from time to time, “Nasonova said .
The expert also noted that the curfew practically stopped the work of bars in the capital.
“It’s hard to get used to drinking before 9 pm,” Nasonova said.
At the same time, kiosks with shawarma feel best of all.
“Simple and cheap food is the trend of the coming months, and single men are the main audience,” says the expert.
As for prices, since the beginning of the war, prices for the most democratic positions have already increased by about 10%.
“The (Kyiv) perepichka index is growing – already 30 hryvnias, at the end of 2021 it was 25 hryvnias. For economists, these figures speak volumes. Coffee prices began to rise from the beginning of the year, cappuccino in January was 32 hryvnias, in March it was already 35 hryvnias, in the center now UAH 38,” Nasonova said.
Established in 2021, the National Restaurant Association of Ukraine (NRAU) for May 2022 unites more than 50 members, 450 restaurants and cafes.
The situation in Ukraine “has devastated food supplies, disrupted the energy and financial systems of developing countries,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said.
“In fact, there is no real solution to the problem of global food security, unless the agricultural producer Ukraine, as well as food and fertilizer producers Russia and Belarus, are returned to the world market,” Western media quote the words of the UN Secretary General during his trip to Nigeria.
Guterres added that he was determined to promote dialogue on this issue.
Civilian casualties from February 24, when Russia started the war against Ukraine, to 24:00 on April 27 amounted to 6,009 civilians (in the report the day before – 5,939), including 2,829 dead (2,787), reports the Office of the High Commissioner United Nations Human Rights Organization (OHCHR) on Thursday.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are much higher as information is delayed from some areas of heavy fighting and many reports are still awaiting confirmation,” the UN data document notes.
According to him, this applies, for example, to Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region) and Popasna (Luhansk region), where there are reports of numerous civilian casualties. They are subject to further verification and are not included in the above statistics.
“The majority of civilian deaths or injuries were caused by the use of explosive devices with a wide area of effect, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as rocket and air strikes,” the report says.
According to confirmed UN data, 932 men, 626 women, 75 boys and 62 girls died, while the sex of 68 children and 1066 adults has not yet been determined.
Among the 3,180 wounded were 73 boys and 66 girls, as well as 164 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to Friday’s report, according to the UN, three children were killed and another was injured.
OHCHR indicates that in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as of midnight on April 28, there were 1,266 (1,229) dead and 1,172 (1,159) injured in government-controlled territory, and 88 (85) dead and 357 (353) injured in territory controlled by self-proclaimed “republics”.
In other regions of Ukraine under government control (in Kyiv, as well as in Zhytomyr, Zaporozhye, Kyiv, Sumy, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions), the UN recorded 1475 (1473) dead and 1651 (1640) wounded .
The daily summary traditionally states that the increase in the figures from the previous summary should not be attributed only to the cases on April 26, since during this period the Office verified a number of cases from previous days.
20% of the adult population of all Ukraine had to change their place of residence, while more of those who are forced to leave are in the eastern regions of the country (58%) and among young people (33%), according to the results of the nationwide survey “Socio-economic problems during the war”, conducted by the sociological group “Rating” on April 26.
The results of the study note that the rate of 20% of those who left their homes has remained unchanged since mid-March.
Since the beginning of April, the number of those who plan to return home in the near future has slightly decreased (from 29% to 22%). But there were more of those who would like to return, but a little later (from 24% to 31%). The number of those who intend to return home has hardly changed, but after the war (43%).
33% of respondents noted that they attended church on Easter, 67% did not attend. This is a higher figure than during the first quarantine (April 2020), but lower than it was before 2020. Most of those who were in church on Easter were among the inhabitants of the western regions and the rural population.
In the course of the study, 1,000 respondents over 18 years of age and older were interviewed using the CATI method (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews – telephone interviews using a computer) in all areas, except for the temporarily occupied territories. The sample is representative in terms of age, gender and type of settlement, the error of the representativeness of the study with a confidence probability of 0.95 is no more than 3.1%.
The total amount of direct documented damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure as a result of the Russian military invasion has reached almost $88 billion, Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak said in a telegram.
“Over the past week, direct losses to the Ukrainian economy due to destruction and damage to civilian and military infrastructure have increased by $3.1 billion,” he wrote, referring to the “Russia will pay” project implemented by the KSE Institute with the support of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Reintegration and the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Yermak noted that the total losses of the Ukrainian economy – direct and indirect – due to the war range from $564 billion to $600 billion.
“Russia must be responsible for all crimes and destruction in our state, and it is at the expense of the aggressor, in addition to international assistance and money from our budget, that Ukraine must be restored,” the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine stressed.
He clarified that this estimate of the cost of losses from the ongoing war has so far been made only on the basis of public sources.
According to the data he cited, as of today, at least 23 thousand km of roads, 277 bridges and bridge crossings, 11 military airfields, 1 airport have been destroyed or seized.
In addition, 535 kindergartens, 866 institutions of secondary, higher and higher education, 231 medical institutions, 173 factories and enterprises, at least 75 administrative buildings were damaged or destroyed.
The American company Mondelēz International, one of the world’s largest producers of snacks and confectionery, has estimated its losses and additional expenses in the first quarter of 2022 due to the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine at $143 million (after taxes – $145 million).
“In February 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, and the company closed its operations and facilities in Ukraine. In March 2022, the company’s two Ukrainian production facilities in Trostianets and Vyshgorod were seriously affected,” the company said in a quarterly report on Tuesday evening.
According to him, this amount included $75 million reflected in the impairment of these and other assets and exit costs, $44 million in cost of sales and $24 million in marketing, general and administrative expenses.
As reported, PrJSC Mondelis Ukraine (formerly Kraft Foods Ukraine) is part of the Mondelēz International (USA) group of companies, the holding company of which is Mondelēz Nederland Services B.V (Netherlands).
The company in Ukraine includes the Trostyanets confectionery factory (Sumy region) and a subsidiary company “Chipsy Lux” LLC (Kyiv region).
Since 2003, Mondelis Ukraine has been managing business development in the Moldovan market, since 2005 – in the markets of Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and since 2008 – also in the markets of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.
The company’s business in Ukraine as of autumn last year amounted to more than $400 million. Mondelis Ukraine invested more than $200 million in business development in Ukraine.
“Mondelis Ukraine” sells products under the trademarks “Korona”, Milka, “Vedmedic “Barni”, Tuc, “Belvita! Good Morning!”, “Lux”, Halls, Dirol, Picnic and others.
