Revenues of Ukrainian eateries have fallen by a quarter in the first three days of the new lockdown, Jan. 8–10, compared to the same period last year, according to a recent survey.
The survey results were published on Jan. 12 by Poster, a Ukrainian tech firm that develops automatization systems for eateries and shops.
The lockdown will last until Jan. 25 and includes the closure of restaurants, cafes, stores that don’t sell groceries, as well as cinemas, gyms and fitness centers.
Restaurants and bars suffered most due to the restrictions — their revenues dropped by 58% and 51%, respectively, according to the survey, for which Poster collected data from nearly 2,000 local eateries.
Cafes lost 40% of their revenue; shisha bars — 39%; pizza houses — 23%; confectionaries — 16%; fast food restaurants — 14%; and coffeehouses — 12%.
Some businesses, however, have managed to increase their turnovers: delivery services grew by 5%, and sushi restaurants — by 25%.
According to Poster, the food businesses are doing much better now compared to the previous full lockdown in March–May. At the time, all types of businesses, including delivery, suffered financial losses. Some establishments lost up to 80% of their revenue.
As a consequence, over 60% of them had to halt their business activities at least temporarily, many cut salaries and laid off employees. At least 160,000 Ukrainian restaurant workers had lost their jobs and the number may be even bigger because many such workers are employed unofficially in Ukraine.
Today, the situation seems better because “there is no panic or widespread closures,” Poster’s study reads. Besides, many restaurants have set up delivery since the last lockdown, which helped some of them do 30% better than in 2020, the data shows.
