It had been almost seven years since visitors walked freely inside the Kyiv River Station — the capital’s main river port situated on the right bank of the Dnipro River.
In fact, the insides of that historic riverside building lay in partial ruin. Windows were broken, walls featuring Soviet-era murals crumbled, and floors and ceilings had been left in a state of neglect.
But on April 27, after weeks of renovations, the passenger port’s doors were reopened to visitors, who now come for more than maritime transportation.
Today, the River Station features a contemporary art exhibit, electronic music shows, and a street food court called Buhta (“bay”) Food Station — not to mention a large terrace with breathtaking views of the Dnipro River.
In its current condition, the River Station is still rustic, but much more welcoming. Only a week after its opening, it has been visited by thousands of people, quickly becoming a must-visit venue for Kyivans and tourists alike.
It is hard to believe that six months ago this loud, bustling venue was derelict and forgotten.
“The River Station has finally come to life,” Roman Tugashev, founder of the Buhta Food Station, told the Kyiv Post.
Tugashev, who is also the founder of the Ulichnaya Eda street food festival, says he was inspired by the riverside embankments of New York, London and Berlin that “serve not only as river ports but more like entertainment places.” He decided that Kyiv needs something similar.
“So now people can come here on any day of the week, eat, drink, enjoy this cool atmosphere and this amazing view on the Dnipro River, and simply have fun,” Tugashev says.
“I think that this is what Kyiv really needed,” he adds.
A riverside revival
The River Station was built in 1961, decades before Ukraine became an independent country. Several years after independence, in 1996, Ukrainian shipping company Ukrrichflot privatized the building.
In 2012, the building was closed due to the reconstruction of Poshtova Square, the riverside plaza on which the station is located. While Poshtova’s redevelopment was finished in 2015, the River Station stayed closed due to its poor condition.
Since 2016, the River Station has been owned by Nestor Shufrych, a Ukrainian lawmaker and member of the Opposition Bloc faction, and businessman Mykhailo Brodsky. Both Shufrych and Brodsky did not reply to the Kyiv Post’s requests for comment.
Tugashev says that he and Pavlo Polikanov, head of river tourism development in Kyiv, reached out to the River Station’s owners back in December 2018. The owners have supported Tugashev and Polikanov in renovating the building — they even funded it at a cost that remains unknown.
“We did that to breathe life into the River Station so that now people can see it from the inside, explore its beauty, as well as see the art,” Polikanov says. “We could not stand that such a monumental, beautiful, bright building remained closed.”
People pass by a street food court at the River Station in Kyiv on its opening day on May 4, 2019. The River Station has 17 food kiosks with food for any taste and wallet. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Throughout its years of closure, the River Station deteriorated significantly due to age and neglect. The team had to replace the building’s heating system, replace the old, broken windows and repair the storm water drainage system. Today, two of the building’s four floors have been reopened to visitors.
To preserve the River Station’s identity and avoid damaging the interior frescoes, which were created by Ukrainian artists of the past century, the team has left the interior walls untouched.
“A lot of work has been done. Visually, it is probably not noticeable, but we really have done a lot,” Polikanov says. “Our main goal was to keep the building at least in the condition it is in now,” Polikanov adds.
Renovate, reopen
Even though Tugashev had the idea of creating a street food festival on Poshtova Square for a long time, he decided to begin the River Station’s journey of improvement with art.
“People live not only to enjoy some food and drinks. People also want some cultural and social component in all places…,” says Tugashev.
Therefore, the team opened the Buhta Art Space on the River Station`s first floor, launching “Renovation,” an art exhibition that mixes 20th century modernism with contemporary art.
The exhibit currently features artwork by 11 Ukrainian artists and is open every day until May 15 from 10 a. m. until 11 p. m.
Dasha Bilenko, the exhibit’s curator and a Kyiv-based art expert, says the art space received 190 applications from artists across Ukraine and had to select from the best among them.
“This is a very resonant place where lots of people would love to work,” Bilenko says.
According to Bilenko, the name of the exhibition reflects the changes the River Station has undergone. The entrance to the exhibition is free, as the idea behind the project was “to bring art to the masses,” Bilenko says.
However, it is not only about art.
On the weekend of May 4–5 alone, more than 15,000 people visited the River Station, according to event organizers. Visitors came to the official opening of Buhta Food Station, a festival that turned the calm embankment by the Station into a crowded and lively food market.
Buhta Food Station now consists of 17 street food kiosks where one can find dishes to match a variety of tastes and budgets: Chinese and Mexican cuisine, shrimp, oysters, burgers, steak, and churros are all on offer to visitors.
There are also two bars where visitors can wash down their meals with a glass of wine or cider.
“At Buhta Food Station you can find chebureki (fried pastry with meat or cheese) for Hr 35 ($1.30) and steaks for Hr 350 ($13.30),” says Tugashev.
Apart from that, those who enjoy hookah can smoke on the River Station’s picturesque terrace while savoring a view of the Dnipro River.
Like the art exhibition, Buhta Food Station will work every day from 11 a. m. until 11 p. m.
Polikanov also says they aim to create a full spectrum of opportunities at Poshtova Square. In other words, a person who comes there will be able to “eat there, walk, buy some needed goods, and go home satisfied, willing to come back once again.”
According to him, they have started looking for pharmacies, banks and ATMs to open on the embankment.
“We want people to find everything they need here,” Polikanov says.
Tugashev adds that they plan to continue developing the River Station and want it to operate the whole year round, not only during the summer.
“We try not to focus on what we have already done,” he says. “We believe in the potential of this location, we believe that the city needs it, and so we just do it.”
