Number of stores operating in Ukraine on rise - Kiev

MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - The number of working stores belonging to surveyed Ukrainian retailers in January-September 2024 increased 9.5%, or by 1,925 retail outlets, led by those in the Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk and Lvov regions, as follows from a survey conducted by the Association of Retailers of Ukraine, as Ukrainian media reported.

"The number of operating stores in the first nine months of this year continues to show a positive [upward] trend. Thus, 1,925 stores were opened in January-September 2024 and 649 were closed for various reasons. Accordingly, the net increase for this period reached 1,276 retail outlets. Let us remind you that 837 stores were added in the first six months of 2024," the association said.

According to its data, most of all stores are concentrated in the Kiev and the Kiev region where 5,266 retail outlets are located. There is also the largest increase in working retail outlets there, as the number of working stores has risen by 473 outlets, including closed ones by 328 over the nine months of this year.

The Dnepropetrovsk region ranks second with 2,075 stores in operation. At the same time, 180 retail outlets were rebuilt or launched in the region and 64 stores were closed during the reporting period.

The Lvov region is third in terms of retail trade concentration with 1,947 retail outlets. At the same time, there were 56 closed stores for 124 new stores in the first nine months.

The survey revealed that the Odessa region with 1,316 stores and the Kharkov region with 1,215 stores were also among the five top regions with the largest numbers of stores. There were 98 and 97 new operating retail outlets in these regions in January-September, respectively, while 41 and 77 were closed.

More than half (54%) of all operating stores run by 108 retailers polled in the survey are concentrated in these five regions, it said.