UKRAINE. Kiev Boryspil Airport has awarded retail concessions at its main international terminal to Gebr Heinemann venture BF & GH Travel Retail and Kievrianta (under new ownership since Aer Rianta International sold the business last year).
BF & GH Travel Retail will sell core duty free categories and some fashion accessories from a 2,200sq m area at Terminal D. Kievrianta will operate 700sq m of fashion retail space. The new concessions are expected to run for 10 years each.
The move marks a return to the pure retail concession model for the airport, which last October took over all retail outlets and appointed BF & GH Travel Retail as its exclusive retail management partner across the airport.
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Above and below: Latest images of the Terminal D stores run by Gebr Heinemann venture BF & GH Travel Retail |
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Gebr Heinemann Director Russia & CIS Pierre Viarnaud told The Moodie Report that the company was awaiting clarity on the transfer of shops it had previously operated to Kievrianta.
He remained pragmatic about the loss of exclusivity at the terminal, which serves the vast majority of international traffic to Kiev.
In the past year BF & GH Travel Retail has also had to manage the relocation of stores to Terminal D from Terminal F due to its unexpected closure, following a recent (and significant) investment in the retail spaces there.
“When you operate somewhere that has had the political turmoil that Kiev has had over the past few months, you need to have strong nerves,” said Viarnaud.
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Viarnaud reported that despite the turmoil that has affected Ukraine since the Crimea crisis began in February, passenger numbers had remained stable and even showed marginal growth.
“Ukrainians are not travelling less, but they are spending less as the Ukrainian Hryvnia has lost around 65% of its value [against the Euro and US Dollar] in the past year,” he said.
“It is something Heinemann is seeing across all its stores in Europe – Ukrainians were very good spenders before the crisis.”
The short-term effect of the crisis is likely to have little impact on Heinemann’s long-term outlook on the Ukrainian market, Viarnaud said.
