Roksolana Pyrtko: New Retail Centres Are Not the Threat — the Threat Is Failing to Adapt

While industry media focus on the record 22 new retail properties set to enter Ukraine's market in 2026, Roksolana Pyrtko, CEO of Roksolana Mall and Spartak SEC, is asking a different question: not how many new centres will open, but what happens to those already operating.

Total new competitive retail space in regional cities may reach 400,000 sq m – 13.5% more than in 2025. According to Expandia, the vast majority are sub-20,000 sq m formats: retail parks, convenience centres, and neighbourhood shopping centres. At the same time, retail rental rates across the country rose approximately 16% over the past year, while average vacancy in Kyiv shopping centres fell to 11.5%. The market is recovering. But unevenly.

New supply is not distributed evenly

"400,000 sq m of new space is not uniform growth across the country. It is a concentration in specific regions: Lviv, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk. And in those regions, competition between properties will grow faster than consumer demand. For an operator, that means one thing: if you are not offering tenants something beyond square metres, they will go somewhere newer," says Roksolana Pyrtko.

According to InVenture, two major Kyiv projects – Ocean Mall and White Lines – are expected to come to market in 2026, triggering a redistribution of tenants and footfall between new and existing centres. A similar dynamic, at a smaller scale, is already unfolding in regional markets.

Three parameters that decide everything

Roksolana Pyrtko identifies three characteristics that tenants now prioritise when selecting space in 2026: autonomous power supply, a shelter on site, and car accessibility. This is confirmed both by Expandia data and by the practical experience of lease negotiations.

"Tenants no longer look only at the rate and the footfall. They ask: what happens to this property during a power cut? Is there a shelter for staff and visitors? Can people reach it without public transport? These have become baseline filters – without them, negotiations do not even begin," says Roksolana Pyrtko.

Who benefits from the new wave

In Roksolana Pyrtko's assessment, the new development wave creates opportunities for two categories of players: new compact properties designed from the outset to meet current market requirements, and existing operators who have invested in infrastructure and can offer tenants the stability that a newly opened centre with unproven footfall cannot.

"A new property has the advantage of being modern. An existing property with a strong operating model has the advantage of proven footfall and tenant relationships built over years. These two advantages do not compete with each other directly. The ones who lose are those with neither," says Roksolana Pyrtko.