– How did your company survive 2022? With what indicators? 

– At the beginning of the war, our priorities were to ensure the safety and support of employees, tenants and the community of shopping malls, to organize the uninterrupted operation of shopping malls, to reach agreements with tenants on the conditions for further cooperation and with banks on the restructuring of loans. 
In the first days of Russian aggression, it was necessary to make sure that all our colleagues were safe and provided with everything they needed. Several employees with families were evacuated from combat zones.
It was necessary to ensure the preservation of tenants' property. We have strengthened the security of the mall, closed all glass facades and made sure that the technical teams remain in place until the appropriate orders. Thanks to the dedication of our colleagues, tenants, employees, and contractors, the work of our shopping malls has not stopped in the most difficult periods, starting from February 24, 2022. Supermarkets, pharmacies, stores of essential goods, which are located in our shopping malls in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih, continued to work. Since June 2022, the number of stores and establishments that have resumed their activities has increased. In September 2022, all tenants of our shopping malls, with the exception of McDonald's and Puma in Zaporizhzhia, resumed their work. 
Since October, our industry has again faced a new challenge: an increase in the number of air alarms and restrictions on electricity consumption by enterprises. Arricano has invested more than UAH 26 million in the energy independence of our four facilities, the organization of uninterrupted communication in the shopping malls, the construction of a shelter in Zaporizhzhia for the staff of the shopping mall, the creation of hubs of care in case of blackouts in the shopping malls for our employees and families, including pets, as well as support for charitable initiatives. While continuing operations, we have provided jobs to thousands of Ukrainians and paid more than UAH 130 million in taxes to the state budget. 
At the end of 2022, the occupancy rate of the Arricano shopping malls was 98.5%, which exceeded our expectations.

- How did you end up in the first quarter of 2023? 
– At the end of the first quarter, the vacancy rate for the group was 1.59%. The turnover of tenants showed a positive trend until September 2022 (a relatively stable wartime month) in such product categories as electronics, sports, clothing and others. Attendance at the mall is also recovering and has almost reached the pre-war level in Kyiv projects. This was facilitated by a decrease in the number of air alarms in the capital, stabilization with the supply of electricity, an increase in the number of visitors due to internal migration and the return of citizens from abroad, as well as active marketing activities of the company. 

– What principle do you currently use while forming a pool of tenants? 
– Our task is to maintain a high level of occupancy of the shopping malls and provide a balanced range that will satisfy the needs of our visitors. We analyze which product categories and brands are in the highest demand among our guests, the dynamics of tenants' sales, the share of the product category in the tenant mix and make decisions on attracting a particular brand. So, understanding the popularity of the sports and electronics category, we resumed our cooperation with Megasport in the Sun Gallery shopping mall and signed a lease agreement with Comfy in Prospekt shopping mall. 

– And how has the pool of tenants in your shopping malls changed during the war? What is the current ratio of international and Ukrainian retailers? 
– About 20 tenants of our group had to close in 2022. These are mostly small premises with an area of up to 100 square meters, which were replaced. There were no rotations on large premises last year. This year, we often independently initiate rotations to strengthen the pool of tenants with those brands and product categories that are most in demand by the guests of our shopping malls and show higher sales.
In Kyiv projects, the ratio of international and Ukrainian retailers has not changed much. In regional facilities, the share of local brands that continue to develop and open new stores has increased. 
Since January 2023, Arricano has signed 15 new leases. The pool of tenants included: Megasport, Diverse, Sribnyi Vik, Giulia, Marmeladnyi Dzhek, Famo, Duna, Discounterra, Redi, GLO, Maritel, Quality and others. In June this year, a new Comfy store will open in the Prospekt shopping mall on an area of 1290 square meters. 

– You have a very high level of occupancy at the mall. And what are the conditions for rental rates in your shopping mall? 
– At the end of the first quarter of 2023, the occupancy rate at the Arricano shopping mall was more than 98%, which corresponds to the level of technical vacancy before the war. The level of rental rates is gradually restored along with the sales of tenants. Since the beginning of the year, a significant number of tenants have already been working on pre-war lease terms. We review the terms of cooperation in accordance with the dynamics of the growth of turnover. 

– At the end of March, the curfew was reduced, which allowed to increase the working hours of retail and shopping malls. Did it allow to increase traffic in the mall? How much? 
– The increase in the working time of the shopping mall will affect the traffic and the growth of sales of tenants due to the fact that our guests will be able to plan their visits after the working day and a longer visit at the weekend. Now, during the adaptation period, we analyze the indicators and see a gradual increase in the number of visitors after 8 PM. According to our forecasts, by the summer we expect the recovery of evening traffic to high levels. 

– How do you generally work on increasing traffic in the mall? What tools do you use? 
– In Arricano shopping malls, we implement social projects and charitable initiatives, conduct educational, entertainment, creative events, in which the communities of our shopping malls are actively involved. Initiatives and events should be relevant and interesting to our audience, so we choose relevant ideas even more carefully and implement projects relevant to our visitors. 
We use digital communication channels and omnichannel marketing tools. The main channel of communication is social networks. Today, our audience is especially sensitive to content and messages, so we adjust the content strategy depending on the context.
To prepare and implement marketing activities, we attract customers, tenant partners and a team – and such synergy gives us an incredible effect. Our goal is to unite, train, and support the community, stimulate sales of tenants and unite a professional team in order to achieve high results. 

– Has the portrait of a visitor to the mall changed during the war? How? Has this impacted your marketing strategy? 
– Our shopping malls continue to be visited by regular customers, and we are grateful to everyone who stays with us at all times. A new audience is also joining us – these are consumers who have changed their permanent place of residence due to the war. 
War affects the level of incomes of our customers, and forces consumers to plan their expenses more rationally. We have more targeted traffic. Our guests plan shopping in advance, with a list of products and a list of shops to visit. 

– How are you developing your shopping malls now? What is your main focus? 
– We focus on what our guests need, what we do well – we develop spaces for full life and inspiration. 
It is important for our clients to be safe, spend time with loved ones and friends in the usual format and pleasant atmosphere, make gifts for themselves and their families. Therefore, our priorities remain the safety of our guests, maintaining a high level of service and comfort, a wide and popular range, leadership in maintaining and developing our community. If everything is done effectively, the sales of tenants will increase, as well as the company's revenues. 

- Can you tell us about your plans for this year? 
– This year we will continue to invest in the development of our shopping malls and maintain a high level of their operation. We will strengthen tenant-mix, test new marketing tools to stimulate sales of tenants. We continue, albeit at a reduced pace, to invest in the construction of the Lukianivka shopping mall. By the end of the year, we plan to complete the works on the arrangement of engineering networks, the restoration of the building of the architectural monument that is located on the territory of the shopping mall and will be integrated into the general concept. We are also finalizing the update of the concept of the Lukianivka shopping mall. This will allow us to quickly resume the pace of construction after our victory and will help attract funding to complete the construction of the new shopping mall.