Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
The largest wholesale market in Europe started its work in Ukraine
Stolychnyi, the largest wholesale market in Europe started its work in Kiev, today, July 15, 2011. Ukraine's agricultural experts think that such an event will fundamentally change the format of wholesale trade in agricultural produce in Ukraine.
Today the first turn of the market is opened, inclusive of Vegetables-Fruit pavilion. Stolychnyi will dispose of fruit and vegetable storage capacities on the area of 2.7 thousand square meters by the end of 2011, and will expand it to 36 thousand square meters by 2014.
All project will be constructed in four development turns, and by 2014 the market will have all grocery commodity groups represented on it. Stolychnyi occupies the area of 160 hectares, the site area will amount to 219,308 square meters, the number of offered trading places is 504.
“Stolychnyi Wholesale Market stands a good chance to become one of the most successful Ukrainian projects in the food sector supported by the government over all history of Ukraine's independence”, Tetiana Getman, Head of Fruit-Inform Project, thinks. “Importance of the project is that it is based on a huge experience of Shuvar OOO in Lvov taking into account trials and errors of wholesale markets from the whole world.”
As authors of the project say themselves, they took into consideration all successes and mistakes of the markets from all EU countries, Eastern Europe, Korea and many other countries when designing the market.
“Our longstanding solid cooperation with Shuvar OOO enables us to have every reason to say that this is one of the unique and really intelligent companies that can create something not just “like in the EU”, but better than in the EU! And we do not make unsubstantiated statements, as, for example, the turnover of fresh produce on Shuvar Wholesale Market in Lvov amounts to more than 400,000 tonnes a year. And this makes this market to take the 6th-10th places in the whole Europe. However, Shuvar Wholesale Market is several times inferior to other markets in area. That's why its turnover of fresh produce per hectare is higher than anywhere in Europe!”, T. Getman notes.
Opening of the market will help sharply reduce Ukrainian producers' losses from inefficient system of wholesale trade in fruits and vegetables, which, according to Fruit-Inform Project, amounted to UAH 600 million (EUR 53 million) in the last season. The main importance for Ukrainian farmers lies in receiving of direct access to consumers and being able to influence prices. According to forecasts of Fruit-Inform Project's experts, fruit and vegetable prices can decrease by 10-20% in Ukraine after opening of Stolychnyi Wholesale Market.
Also, we would like to pay your attention that less than in a month after the opening (on August 11, 2011) this market will host the first in Ukraine international conference “Apple Business of Ukraine, Russia and Moldova - 2011” . This event will gather more than 150 delegates from 9-11 countries of the world. The conference is organized by Fruit-Inform Project and Stolychnyi Wholesale Market. Registration of the conference participants is still in progress.