Euro 2012 is turning out to be a disappointment for some restaurants and pubs in the city center, while other businesses are predictably seeing an increase in sales.
But in any case, business people say that the government’s expectations that tourists will spend up to $1.5 billion is unrealistic.
Handily located across the street from the Vladimir Lenin statue on Shevchenko Boulevard, Prego restaurant seems like it should be catching more business than usual. Instead, it’s losing customers because roads are closed off and extra days off mean that their regular business clients are nowhere to be found.
“Over the last several days, our sales have gone down by some 30 percent since we’ve lost our Ukrainian clientele, who can’t drive up and park near the restaurant,” said one staff member, who declined to be identified because he was not clearly authorized to talk about the business. “Certainly, we have more fans among our clients, but they do not order much food, only bear and some pizza.”
Prego’s staff say they did not expect to see more clients from Euro 2012, except perhaps during the finals on July 1. They say many people who live in the center have left the city in anticipation of the tournament.
Prego’s next-door neighbor, Chaikoff cafe, seems to be doing much better. Aleksandr Tereshchenko, the cafe’s administrator, said sales picked up by 20 percent, but did not elaborate on whether the boost matched expectations.
Many pubs in the city center also claim they have not seen an influx of cash since the games started. At lunchtime on June 11, the Naturlih pub near Kreshchatyk Street, just outside the fan zone, was full of Swedish fans who came to have some lunch and beer. But the staff said that does not mean much more business.
“Generally, we have not had more clients, even though the number of foreigners has gone up,” said the pub’s administrator who wouldn’t be identified. A few days earlier, when the championship started, the bar switched to 7/24 operation. “But it hasn’t paid off yet,” he said.
Naturlih’s competitor, Bochka pub, located in the back yard of Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street, says it has not gained any business, either. “We have just as many clients are we used to just before the games,” said Serhiy Golik, the pub’s manager.
He said that despite the fact that the place was fully booked for the Ukraine-Sweden match, the short-term future does not seem too bright. Since many roads in the center are blocked, suppliers are having trouble delivering orders while regular clients have stayed away.
Located just around the corner from Pecherskiy district court, Bochka picked up a lot of business during the abuse-of-office trial of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and other opposition leaders. They picked up extra daytime clientele because many journalists and opposition politicians frequented the place to take a break from the long hearings.
But as competition increased on the eve of Euro 2012, the bar has been losing business. “Our May sales were down compared to last year,” said Golik. “Considering our investment into advertising and promotion, this is not likely to pay off and it’s not what we expected.”
In summertime, indoor restaurants in Kyiv usually experience a drop in sales while those with summer terraces get a boost.
While some restaurants and other businesses in the center have extended their regular hours to cash in, others inexplicably haven’t changed their routine. TGI Friday’s, across the street from Bessarabsky Market, closed at 10 p.m. on June 10, for instance.
Unlike the food industry, souvenir shops in the fan zone have nothing to complain about. On June 11, just hours before Ukraine’s first match, all of them were busy selling T-shirts, scarves and other football paraphernalia.
Oleksandra Kuzmenko, an administrator in one of those shops, said she was happy with the sales that – predictably – peak on match days.
The shops offer Ukrainian jerseys for Hr 300 and Swedish jerseys for Hr 800, and other souvenirs like magnets and whistles, which critics said were overpriced.
“Unlike Ukrainians, foreigners are not concerned with [our] prices,” Kuzmenko added. She also pointed out that Ukrainian T-shirts and scarves are selling the best.
But the indisputable leader of sales in the fan zone has been Carlsberg beer. Many tents had run out of supplies before the crucial Ukraine-Sweden match even started.
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at onyshkiv@kyivpost.com
