Over the past year and a half, 30 global brands have left Ukraine.
Well-known brands are leaving the Ukrainian market, Kommentarii reports . Some are fearing currency instability, others are responding to the decline in purchasing power of Ukrainian citizens, and still others, such as the Russian brand Bosco, are responding to political pressure.
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Over the past year and a half, a record number of well-known brands—almost three dozen—not only did not enter the Ukrainian market, but rather hastened to leave so as not to incur losses. A third of them are chains of clothing and footwear stores, both Western and Russian.
Clothing and accessories brands Esprit (Germany), River Island (UK), and OVS (Italy) closed their stores. The reason for leaving was financial losses from currency conversion (almost 1,6 million euros) associated with the purchase of goods for sale in Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
Also closing stores in Ukraine were the brands New Look (UK), Minelli (France), Lee Cooper (UK) and Mexx (Netherlands), IAM and SIX (Germany), Zeebra (a chain of Butlers home accessories, Glossip cosmetics, clothing and shoes Peacocks, Six accessories, IAM). The Ukrainian chain of stores of the world famous denim manufacturer Lee Cooper consisted of ten stores. At the beginning of last fall, the company closed two-thirds of its retail outlets, and a couple of months later, all the rest. Mexx left due to the global bankruptcy of its network.
The Russian sportswear manufacturer Bosco left Ukraine, leaving only one store in Kyiv, due to political pressure, since most of the company's collections included the colors of the Russian flag and state symbols of the Russian Federation.
According to March research by GFK Ukraine, since July last year, the consumer sentiment index has decreased by almost 30 points - from 71 to 41,8. And only in March, after the relative stabilization of the hryvnia and the truce in Donbass, it stopped falling, improving slightly - by 0,7 points. In addition, two dozen global brands in other areas and industries left the market. Experts note that the departure of global brands from the Ukrainian market is not final and will continue in 2015.
English version :: Read in English In the last year and a half, 30 global brands have left Ukraine.