SHOPPING CENTERS MAY BE CLOSED IN FIVE CITIES OF RUSSIA

Measures against COVID-19 have led to the closure of all shopping centers in Russia. As they gradually open in a number of cities, about 10% of trade enterprises remain closed.

This information was provided by the RUSC (Russian Union of Shopping Centers). According to the forecasts of the managing director of the union, Oleg Voitsekhovsky, about a quarter of the shopping centers in the country may be closed by September.

The experts note that although the authorities are gradually introducing indulgences in a number of regions, from five to seven large cities of Russia still remain in a difficult situation. There is a danger of the complete closure of shopping centers in them. Among such cities there are St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, and Khabarovsk. A difficult situation with the activities of shopping centers can also be seen in Kabardino-Balkaria.

Shopping centers here can go bankrupt and completely terminate their activities.

According to the head of the RUSC, the situation in which the owners of the malls find themselves may become the reason for bankruptcy. On the one hand, they incur all the costs of operating the premises, as well as significant losses. On the other hand, in the event of closure, the tax authorities will be forced to write off the taxes which were not paid by the company due to the moratorium set by the government. And now the owners actually faced a choice - to close the centers and go bankrupt, or not to close them and wait for the final ruin.   

According to the market analysts, the attendance has already reached 75% of the level preceding the start of the pandemic in the shopping centers of the Russian capital, which have resumed work since the beginning of June.

The experts estimated the purchasing activity of Moscow residents at 60%.

The situation in the regions of the country is different. There are regions where the attendance has reached a pre-crisis levels (for example, Tyumen). However, the purchasing power remained no higher than 65% of the last year's level.   

President of the RUSC Dmitry Moskalenko earlier said at a press conference that they had sent an appeal to the head of the Russian government, Mikhail Mishustin, in which the representatives of the union proposed to form a separate industry for the owners of the shopping centers, thereby providing an opportunity for independent regulation of the market segment by the state.

In order to prevent 25% of shopping centers from facing the threat of complete ruin, the participants of the RUSC offer to provide them with subsidies, and postpone the payment of taxes until next year and open shopping centers in the regions where the regime of restrictions on the operation of non-food trade enterprises is still in effect.