Despite the pressure of law enforcement agencies on the business of Arricano Real Estate PLC (Cyprus) (hereinafter referred to as Arricano) in Ukraine during 2023-2024, the leading developer of the shopping mall does not lose faith in the justice and victory of Ukraine and continues to reinvest in the development of 4 of its shopping malls, the restoration of the Sun Gallery shopping mall (after the missile attack) and the construction of the Lukianivka shopping mall, work in frontline cities, create jobs and pay taxes and fees to the state budget of Ukraine.

Thus, during the first half of 2024, the companies of the Arricano Group in Ukraine paid UAH 81.6 million of taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels. In addition, the group's companies continue to systematically support the defense forces of Ukraine and help the military, charitable foundations and public organizations. Since the beginning of the year, the amount of financial assistance has reached more than UAH 2.5 million. 

As of July 1, 2024, the vacancy in Kyiv facilities remains at 0%, in the CITY MALL in Zaporizhzhia — 1.2%, in the Sun Gallery shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih — 0.8%, and tenant mix is made up of leading retailers in Ukraine and love mark brands, including COMFY, Silpo and others. 

It should be noted that in less than a month, the work of part of the stores and institutions of the Sun Gallery shopping mall, which was damaged as a result of a missile attack on Kryvyi Rih in January 2024, was resumed. Currently, 74 operators work in the shopping mall, and this number continues to grow. 

"We understand that the work of our shopping malls in cities near the front line is an important factor in stability and maintaining the confidence of local communities, so we have not stopped work on the restoration of shopping malls and attracting socially important tenants, even despite the actual attempts of law enforcement agencies to stop Arricano's business in Ukraine. To date, investments in the renovation of front-line shopping malls and the restoration of the Sun Gallery shopping mall have amounted to about UAH 51 million," says Anna Chubotina, CEO of Arricano Real EstateLLC, a company that carries out operational management of Arricano Group assets in Ukraine. 

In June 2024, the Sun Gallery shopping mall and the CITY MALL changed the anchor operator to a supermarket of the popular Silpo network. This significantly increased traffic in both facilities and had a positive impact on the turnover of operators of all product groups.

In addition, in the first half of the year, 84 stores and establishments with a total area of 25,400 square meters were opened and renovated in Arricano shopping malls. The company considers support for Ukrainian brands to be an important direction for the development of its facilities, so their representation in Arricano shopping mall is gradually increasing. 

At the same time, the development strategy of the Group's shopping malls provides for further updating of formats and the launch of new stores. Currently, a significant number of agreements of new tenants are being signed, which will complement and diversify the high-quality pool of stores and establishments of all shopping malls.

By the end of 2024, Arricano shopping malls expect even more openings, in particular Sinsay in Sun Gallery shopping mall, LESIA in Prospekt shopping mall. The plans for the second half of the year include the resumption of the work of PUMA, Citrus in the CITY MALL, as well as Goldi, Athletics, Akvarel and operators of the food court zone of the Sun Gallery shopping mall.

In total, more than 11.2 million guests visited Arricano shopping malls in 6 months of 2024. During the first half of the year, about 100 events and activities were held, including 19 with a charitable component, and 17 CSR projects were implemented. During this period, more than 170 tenant partners and more than 110 external partners actively joined Arricano's initiatives. 

"The owners of the company believe that investing in the development of Ukrainian projects during the war is not a matter of business, but a matter of supporting the country and citizens who have become victims of aggression. And although Arricano's business in Ukraine is currently suffering from unprecedented pressure from law enforcement agencies, we are confident that the law is on our side, and we still continue to implement our investment plans not only in existing but also in future projects,"says Anna Chubotina. 

In the first half of 2024, Arricano continued to work on the project of the shopping mall on Lukianivka in Kyiv and invest in the works planned for the current year on the arrangement of the engineering networks of the facility. By the end of the year, the team plans measures to improve the conceptual solutions and the development strategy of the shopping mall.